SkyeWard Mix Vol 1
by TriniTea
Summary: Collections of SkyeWard one-shots based on the songs from the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack. Ratings and AUs vary.
1. Hooked on a Feeling

...

 **Author's Note: I loved Guardians of the Galaxy, and I adore the soundtrack. Since it's a Marvel movie and with the new movie's coming soon, I thought that some SkyeWard song fics were of order. I had this idea for a while, but I've been trying to figure out what to write for songs like 'OHH Child' and 'Cherry Bomb'. But hey, I'll think of something... Eventually... *nervous laugh***

 **[Teenage AU] [Friendship/Romance] [K]**

...

...

' _When you hold me, in your arms so tight_

 _You let me know, everything's all right,  
_

 _I'm hooked on a feeling,_

 _I'm high on believing,_

 _That you're in love with me,'_

 _~Blue Swede_

...

Let's say it started around grade seven. Neither Grant nor Skye know how it came about, but they started to act affectionate, in a mock-couple way (emphasis on _mock_ ). Maybe it was because both of them didn't have significant others while some of their friends had an S.O. But no one honestly knows for sure.

But the true mystery was how Skye was able to get Grant to participate it these affection acts. Despite the fact that he has this one 'hate face' that sets up a two meter perimeter around him that everyone (but Skye) is too afraid to cross. But apparently he's a puppy only around his best friend, well, an anti social puppy nonetheless.

It started with the awkward 'yawn and reach over shoulder' thing, then it evolved to long hugs that are more like standing snuggles to holding hands when ever they're together. They've even gotten to platonic ' _I love you'_ s by their first year of high school. They've joked that they are ' _more affectionate that real couples'_ , and if they were together, they would be the (annoying yet loveable—no, scratch that, just annoying) PDA couple _._

A lot of people were (and still are) convinced that they are a couple, heck, even their teachers ship them. But when anyone asked them, they would just laugh it off and denied the statement. This has lead to a lot bets and more than fifty bucks lost from Hunter who is _convinced_ that the pair will get together (or he just like spending money). On the flip side, Bobbi has made over fifty bucks in bets, but it's because she like winning, not because she doesn't want Skye and Grant together.

...

It's the weekend just after their first set of grade ten exams, which was yet another _gentle_ reminder that they're not in elementary school anymore. So what better way to celebrate another trip to Hell and back than a nice game of bowling (but ' _nice_ ' may be an overstatement, their games are highly competitive)?

...

The bus stops with a screech. Grant stands in front of the door until it slides open. He says a 'Thank you' to the bus driver before slipping his hands into his jacket pockets and stepping out onto the pavement.

They haven't gone bowling since the summer, and Grant's determined to win back his title of 'Bowling Champion' that was wrongfully taken by Skye. It was a high energy game that came down to the last roll of the ball and ended with a ridiculous victory dance from Skye. Okay, maybe seeing Skye's embarrassing victory dance was worth the loss, but that's not stopping him from wanting to win again.

Grant passes by several small shops, his eyes glance through the store windows as he walks. He continues to walk until he's in front of ' _Split Lane Bowling Alley_ '. He slips his hand out of his pocket and pulls open the door and enters the dimly lit, glow-in-the-dark bowling alleys (Skye always insists on going to the glow-in-the-dark ones).

The door swings close behind him as he walks out into the floor. He looks out to the lanes, scanning to see if his friends have arrived yet.

"Grant! Over here!" He hears an unmistakeable voice call. He looks around, and then finally spots Skye, waving to him from one of the far lanes.

Grant smiles back with a wave. "Let me get my bowling shoes first!"

He then turns to the lady waiting at the counter, and steps up to rent bowling shoes.

...

He finishes paying and proceeds to walk down the aisle. There were only a handful of other groups occupying the other lanes, which wasn't surprising for noon on a lazy Sunday.

Skye, Kara, Bobbi and Hunter are already at the lane, tying their shoes and typing their ridiculous nicknames into the score screen. Skye looks up, jumps out from her seat when her eyes meets his. "I missed you!" Skye says, running up and attacking him with a hug.

"You saw him yesterday," Hunter chimes in as he ties his shoes.

"Twenty-four hours is a long time!" Skye protest, detaches herself from Grant.

Grant shakes his head with a smile. "It isn't a long time Skye and we hung out yesterday afternoon."

"Hey!" She gives him a light punch on the shoulder. "I thought you liked my affection! You're taking his side now, Hunter's side of all people!"

Grant shrugs. "There are no sides. I'm just saying that you don't have to say 'I missed you'every time you see me."

Skye crosses her arms. "Oh, so you're finally fighting back huh?" Grant swallows. From all their years of friendship, he knows this face; the ' _Oh, it's on!_ ' face. She suddenly smirks, "So prepared to get your butt kicked!"

See? Called it.

Grant snickers. "You wish!"

...

Grant smirks as the ball knocks down the remainder of the pins, which only furthers his lead. He takes a few steps back and looks at the screen. They only have a few frames left before their next game. And he's sure that this time, Skye is going to bit his dust.

"Kara, it's your bowl," Grant says as he steps off the wooden floor and onto the technocoloured carpet.

Kara looks up from the plate of overpriced fries. "Yeah, okay." She sticks another in her mouth before going up for her turn.

Grant takes a seat beside Skye. She instantly snuggles up against him.

Grant smiles smugly, "So I'm getting my butt kicked huh? I think our definitions of 'getting your butt kicked' are different."

"Oh shut up," Skye fires back as she absentmindedly traces swirls on the back of Grant's hand. "Maybe you're winning the battle, but not the war; the bowling war."

Grant laughs, wrapping his arm over her shoulder. "You can dream on hon."

Skye looks up at him with a smile. Grant gazes down at her with the same loving (platonic?) look.

Both are too distracted to register Bobbi and Hunter's words as they sit across from them. "Twenty five bucks says they get together by the end of the week," Hunter whispers to Bobbi. She rolls her eyes.

"Really? Twenty five buck?" Bobbi raises an eyebrow. "You're that faithful? Don't you say that you think they'll get together every week?"

Hunter shakes his head and nudges towards Skye curled in Grant's embrace. "Don't you see the way they're looking at each other? That ain't platonic. I'm that faithful that I will raise it to thirty five bucks," Hunter challenges.

"Huh," Bobbi says with an impressed look on her face. "You have yourself a deal." They shake hands before turning back to Skye and Grant.

Kara walks back to her seat as she says "Skye, it's your turn." pulling the two out of their trance.

"Okay." Skye slips under Grant's arm and goes to get her lucky bowling ball.

"So you aren't together yet, huh?" Kara asks, taking Skye's seat beside Grant.

He rolls his eyes in response. "I didn't realize that you're joining in on Hunter and Bobbi's bets."

"No, no, no. I'm actually responsible with my money. It just pains me to watch you being so unaware of the way you look at Skye." Kara smirks.

"I don't look at Skye a 'certain way'," Grant protest.

Kara snorts and gives his the ' _you're joking, right?_ ' look. "Have you seen the way you look at her? You're in love with her." She gives him a pat on the shoulder. Grant looks away, heat rising to his cheeks.

"Ha! You're blushing! You do like her!" Kara celebrates.

Grant turns back to Kara and insists, "I'm not blushing!"

"You're even oblivious to the fact that you're blushing! Face it, you're in denial." Kara crosses her arms across her chest. "Why else you do think you tolerate her affectionate acts? When I met you, would scowl every time someone touched you. You're hopelessly in love with her."

Grant is dumbstruck. He doesn't care to acknowledge it but he's thought of the possibility of him and Skye being an actual couple before. But he always pushed those thoughts aside, choosing to ignore them. Since you can't think of your best friend like that, can you?

Come to think of it, Kara's right; he's only affectionate towards to Skye to that extent. He's in love with his best friend isn't he? How long has he felt this way? Has it been like this since grade seven? He's a real moron isn't he?

Kara looks over when Skye lets out a loud "Yes!" after bowling a strike.

"Think about it," she says to Grant before moving out of Skye's spot.

He'll think about it for sure, it will be the only thing on his mind for the rest of the week.

...

It's a Friday during one of Skye spares. She finds herself in the library, typing away at an essay that she decided to get a head start on (despite what others say, Skye is responsible. Plus is banned at school).

She's too busy to notice the tap of approaching footsteps. "You idiot, you oblivious, oblivious idiot," Skye looks up to see Kara standing beside her table. Skye raises an eyebrow.

Kara's visit puzzles her. It's been a while since she talked to her. Kara is more of Grant's friend than hers and they only hangout when they're with him. The two don't talk that much otherwise, or go out of their way to spend time with each other. And she has _never_ called Skye an idiot.

"What?"

Kara shakes her head with a smug grin in her face. "You're really in denial aren't you? I have no idea how you have been able to stay in denial for so long, it's like you objectively avoiding the truth."

"Kara what are you talking about?" Skye closes the lid of her laptop, giving her full attention to the other girl.

Kara snickers. "It's so funny because _you're_ the one doing it."

"Stop speaking in freaking riddles! Get to the point already!" Skye is tired of Kara playing games.

"Hey, hey, I was getting to it." Kara puts her hands up innocently. "It's about time someone breaks the news to you; Grant is in love with you."

Skye just stares for a moment, then snickers, then it evolves into a full on laugh. There was nothing that funny about it, she doesn't really know why she's laughing. But here she is; eyes shut closed, letting out an embarrassingly loud laugh that echoes through the library. She looks back up at Kara, but her laughs fad away when she meets the deadpan look on Kara's face.

She stares at the other girl before speaking, "Are you sure that Grant's in—in love with me?"

Kara snorts and rolls her eyes. "Have you seen the way he looks at you when you guys hug? He's hopelessly in love with you. Was he denial? Sure, before I slapped some sense into him. But you were in so much more denial than he was." Kara places a hand on the table and leans her weight on it.

This new information hits Skye like a train. Grant Ward is a rather closed-off person, it almost feels impossible that he's hopelessly in love with her. Maybe that's why he has stuck by her side for so long, maybe that's why he's put up with all her affectionate acts for so long. Was she really that blind?

"Grant's class ends in say—four minutes. So you better haul you butt over to the other side of the school." Kara winks with a smug grin plastered on her face.

"Umm, yeah, thanks." Skye stutters as she tucks her laptop away in her bag.

"No problem, just tryin' to help true love," Kara replies. "And I'm just trying to help win Hunter some money that he desperately needs. So run for your dear life! You have four minutes!"

Skye looks at Kara, giving a quick smile before she beelines towards the door.

...

The bell rings as she turns the corner. Despite the sea of students flooding the hallway, she still fights her way towards Ms Nathan's music class.

Amongst an army worth's of students, she spots Grant's head in the crowd.

"Grant!" Skye calls, which he somehow hears avoid the other students.

He turns around, meeting her eyes. "Hey," he says, approaching her. "What are you doing here?"

"I had a spare and I wanted to talk to you," she says as they walk with the flow of traffic.

"I have lunch, so walk with me?" Skye nods as they turn down an emptier hallway.

They continue down the hallway before either of them says anything. Skye takes advantage of this time to try and think out a plan, since Kara didn't give her much time to prepare.

"I—" they say in unison. The look at each other and laugh it off.

Grant says, "You go first."

Skye nods then looks down the hallways. She feels her palm becoming increasingly sweater as anxiety creaks up from inside.

She swallows, "So Kara was talking to me during my spare, and I heard that she talked to you too."

Grant stops in his tracks. Taking a second before he looks down at her, "Skye I—"

"No," she interrupts, looking to meet his gaze. "Let me say it."

Skye takes a deep breath before continuing. "So Kara was talking to me, well she called me an idiot, but she made me realize something. Grant, will—will you hangout with me sometime, like a date?"

Grant simply stares.

Suddenly all that fear and anxiety spills out at once. Skye knew this was going to happen. Kara was probably recruited by Hunter to ask out Grant so he can win a few bets. This was only enviable. She has always been horrible at improv. This probably will ruin their friendship, this—"Of course."

Grant's words barely register amongst her racing thoughts, but it comes through.

Skye goes wide eyed. She heard him say it, she saw his lips move, but she's still doesn't believe it. "O—Okay," she manages to say, "Sounds good."

Grant gives her a loving smile (definitely not platonic this time), "I was meaning to ask you, but you beat me to it."

It takes all of Skye's will power not to kiss him right then and there, but for their first kiss she doesn't want an audience. Plus the school has a rule against PDA.

"So, we're going to the cafeteria?" he asks, breaking their daze.

"Yeah," Skye returns his smile. She laces their hands together and they continue down the hallway.

...

Skye and Grant walk hand in hand into Mr Coulson's English class the next day. Kara immediately approaches them once they stepped through the door.

" _Sooo_ I hear that you guys are finally together," Kara smiles.

Skye and Grant move out of the way to allow students to pass. "Yeah, we are." Skye smiles, and looks up at her new boyfriend. _Boyfriend_ , she's still not used to thinking of him that way.

"You're welcome. Now I have bragging rights for getting you to crazy kids together and now Hunter isn't totally broke." Kara says. "I better be the maid of honour!"

Mr Coulson stands up from desk. "Wait!" he chimes in. "You guys _weren't_ a couple before?"

Skye laughs and says, "Yeah," with a nod.

"Huh, then I guess I owe Coach May twenty bucks," He sits back down on his spiny chair. "Everyone, get to your seat and take out the paper that was assigned on Wednesday."

"I guess teachers were betting on us too," Skye says to Grant and they walk to their desks near the back of the room.

"We should have joined in these bets too. We could have been making a lot of cash." Grant jokes as he pulls out his chair and takes a seat.

Skye smiles, "Since this was all enviable, I guess we could have."


	2. Go All the Way

…

 **Author's Note: Well, well, well. I have no clue how to write smut but this was literally the best song for smut! Ugh, I'm upset and disappointed in myself too. *Sighs deeply*** **I hope you enjoy anyways and you wouldn't believe how much I enjoyed writing this.**

 **But fair warning (and kind of spoilers) shirts do come off... *Smiles like the Cheshire cat***

 **[Fairytale AU] [Fantasy/Romance] [T]**

…

...

' _Before her love I was cruel and mean,_

 _I had a hole in the place where my heart should have been  
_

 _But now I've changed,  
_

 _And it feels so strange  
_

 _I come alive when she does all those things to me'_

 _~Raspberries_

…

 _This wasn't supposed to happen,_ is all Ward thinks as he vigorously shoves his belongings into bags. He collects his things from the inn room as he's deep in thought. He is grateful she'll alright and all, but not this way. He's a traitor, a lying bastard that doesn't deserve her, he doesn't deserve Skye.

Months ago, that witch Lorelei had put Skye under a sleeping curse. Coulson became so desperate to save her, he recruited _Grant Ward_ all people to help with the witch hunt. They tirelessly searched for Lorelei, and when they finally found her, she told them that the sleeping curse can be only be lifted by true love's kiss.

The problem was that after Ward betrayed the team and sold them to the Royal Army, Skye started to have a guarded heart. Lincoln, one of her team mates, was hopelessly in love with her. He already tried to kiss her, but she was still fast asleep.

But Coulson refused to give up, he believed that there must be another way. So they raided every forbidden library, consulted all of the land's greatest sorcerers for answers. But a few months later, they still came up empty handed.

Since Ward helped with the search, Coulson agreed to let him go free. But he felt like he had to visit Skye on last time. He walked into a small room, containing only a bed, a window and Skye. Ward felt a little bad for still admiring her beauty in her sleeping state. She looked so peaceful, with her chest rising up with every breath and not an ounce of tension in her body. She looked like a princess, but he was no prince or knight in shining armor.

Then it happened, he thought that it was the only way to say goodbye. Ward leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, his lips barely brushed against on soft skin. Ward sighed, taking the sight of her in one last time before turning to leave. He was almost out the door when he heard a weak voice peep up from behind and cut the silence like a knife. Ward turned to meet Skye's gaze, staring at him with the same confusion that was written all over his face.

" _Ward_?" she asked, pushing herself up from the small bed.

" _I—I_ ," Ward quickly glanced behind him, before taking a step back. " _I'm sorry,_ " he muttered before exiting the room quickly.

Now he is here, leaving his past life for good. Maybe he'll actually move on, start a new life, a life that isn't tainted by lies and betrayal. Maybe he'll find himself living as a merchant the rest of his days, or as a farmer in the quite part of the land. His path is unsure, but it one that he has to take.

Ward throws one of his bags over his shoulder and carries the heavier one in his other hand. He turns to the door, sighing before turning the handle. When he opens the door, and meets Skye's doe eyes. She's dressed in the same fitted leather vest, white blouse and dark pants with laced boots that she was wearing when he last saw her. She has her hand raised into a fist, as if she was about to knock.

Ward does his best to hind his panicked expression. This was the last thing he wanted.

"Skye…" he has no words, no idea what to say to her.

"You're leaving, huh?" she asks, taking a step inside. There's this look on her face, it's almost like disappointment. But he turns that thought away, why would she be disappointed?

Ward can't produce words, nothing that won't pain him to say, so he simply nods.

She takes a deep breath. "So after you found out that you're my true love and you're now leaving? You're not even going to say goodbye?" The look she's giving him is too much, so he turns away.

"I can't stay," his words are barely audible. In a perfect world this wouldn't end this way. Ward would like nothing more than to be selfish, to hold on to her and never let go, but he couldn't hurt her again.

"Why?" her voice sounds broken, he can practically hear the tears form in her eyes. "It's because you don't love me, isn't it?"

He reacts quickly to her words. "No…" Ward trails off once he meets her gaze. Skye's eyes are red and a little puffy, she squints to try and hold back the tears. It's a reaction he doesn't expect from someone who hates his guts.

"You're mad that you're my true love, right?" she asks. She isn't going to let him leave without answers, right? Ward might as will tell her the truth. He _did_ say that he would never lie to her again. It's a promise that he might end up regretting, but will stay true to. Ward looks down at the ground.

"Furious," is his only response.

"If it's true, look me in the eye and say it!" Skye yells. Ward tries to lock down his emotions and looks her in the eye.

"I'm furious," he repeats, calling to his training, keeping his voice steady and burying his emotions deep under his skin.

Skye turns her back to him, but remains in the room. She drops her head. "So—so what you're saying is—is what we almost had, was another lie?"

"No," Ward reaches out to place his hand at her shoulder, but decides against it and pauses. "It's nothing like."

"So what is it!? One second you tell me that you care me, and the next moment you tell me that you don't. What it is?!" she demands, clenching her fist. Ward sighs.

"I," Ward turns his head, taking a breath before continuing. "I don't want to be your true love because you deserve so much better than me. You deserve the perfect man, someone who is truthful and—and caring. I'm none of those. I'm not a good man Skye…"

There is a moment of sheer silence. Ward has no idea what she is going to do, or what is on her mind. Did he say something wrong? Was that not what she wanted to hear?

Ward is suddenly pulled out of his thoughts when she touches the side of his face gently, move his head to face her.

Skye smiles weakly, still recovering from her tears. "What about my opinion? I don't need the perfect man, that would get boring." she lets out a small laugh before continuing.

"You've made mistakes but I have too. My mistake was being bitter about what you did. It was never your fault." Skye places a hand at his shoulder, "I want someone who looks out for me, who helps me grow as a person and who loves me no matter what." She swallows. "I—I want you, because you _are_ a good man, Grant."

Ward is shocked at her words and doesn't know how to exactly respond. But before he can say anything Skye suddenly leans up and presses her lips against his. Its brief, nothing more than a mere peck on the lips, but it's like a spark of lightning. She moves back to the heels and blindly closes the door.

"I'll always be here as long as you'll have me," Skye smirks with promise of what's yet to come.

A soon as the door closes, her lips are on his again. The way her lips lock with his makes Ward remembers just how much he's been longing for this since the few kisses they shared before his betrayal. All that lust, all that desire that was built up and locked away is now being made up for the time they lost.

He drops his bags carelessly at his sides, and pulls Skye closer. Ward's hands slide down the side of her body until he grips her waist. Skye leans up, cupping his face with her hands. Her lips part further and he responds by pushing her against the door. Ward takes her hands in his and pins them above her head. He disconnects their lips, and looks at her for a split second before leaning towards her. Ward leaves kisses down the side of her neck. "Grant." Skye moans, arching her back off of the door.

When Ward reaches the hem of her shirt he pauses. Skye—becoming frustrated with the lost of contact—slips her hands of out his grasp, cups his cheeks and proceeds to kiss him passionately. His tongue brushes her lower lip, begging for more, which she happily grants to him.

"Bed," she whispers against his lips.

Ward pulls back for a moment. "Are you sure?"

"Grant Douglas Ward, I swear, if you say anything else about how you're not good enough for me, I'll walk out of here right now, and you'll have to wait." Skye crosses her arms as she looks up with him. "And neither of us wants that." Now he knows she's dead serious.

"Well," he scoops his up in his arms. Skye giggles at the sudden move. "We can't have that." Ward leans into another feverish kiss.

He carries her over to the bed and lays her down gently. Once her back in on the bed she grabs him by the hem of his shirt and pulls him down into a kiss. Ward climbs on to the bed and hovers above her.

Skye then flips him over and settles on his hips. Ward snickers. "I don't think I taught you that move for this."

Skye runs her hands down Ward's chest. "But aren't you glad that you did?"

"Very," Ward replies as he leans up to give her a quick peck before lying back down onto the mattress. Skye flashes a seductive smile at Ward as she makes quick work of her belt and vest. Ward is unable to tear his gaze away from her blouse, as its thin fabric outlines her figure. He reached up, dragging his hands down her sides. She bends to kiss him again, hard and fully, while running her hands down his shirt.

Once reaching the bottom of this shirt, Skye slips her hands underneath to admire his toned torso. She sits back up and helps him pull his shirt over his head. Smirking, she grabs the shirt in one hand and throws it carelessly behind her while her other hand traces the ridges of his abs.

Ward shamelessly takes advantage of her near still state and flips her over on her back. He plants both of his hands on either side of her head and leans in so they're a breath away. "Do you how long I've dreamt of this?"

"Well here's your chance to make your dreams a reality," she says seductively.

And that's exactly what he does.

…

When Ward wakes up, everything is perfect. The morning sun shines through the window, there is the faint sound of birds chirping and they're a warm body snuggled against his. He feels more content and calm as he has ever felt. It's almost like a dream. Ward wishes that he could stay like this forever and ignore the outside world for a while.

Then suddenly, reality takes effect.

Ward flinches, the memories from all throughout last night rush back to him. He remembers waking her up with true love's kiss, Skye coming to find him, them talking and she kissing him which then lead to more, but was it a mistake? Was it just for the spur of the moment? Were they just being impulsive? Did she actually trust him?

 _Will he just hurt her again?_

Skye shifts in his arm. It's just the slightest movement, but it causes Ward to tense up.

A moment passes, in which Grant stays completely still, remaining too scare to move, _too afraid to breathe_ , in case it wakes her. He's torn between staying and facing possible heartbreak and trying to leave and facing possible heartbreak. "Grant?" Skye breaks the silence, she turns to face him. "Are you alright?"

He blurts out, "It's just that—are you sure—"

Skye smiles, "I _told_ you; I'll be here as long as you'll have me," Skye interrupts, giving him a quick kiss on the nose. Ward squints at the contact. "Don't ever forget that." Skye laughs then curls up against him. He melts into her embrace.

"Thank you," Ward whispers into her ear.

Skye looks up at him. "Thank you for what?"

He could go on about why he's thanking her; for understanding, for forgiving him, for the amazing sex. The list of reasons is so long that he could practically write a book about why he's thanking her, but he ends up replying, "For giving me a second chance."

Skye smirks. She moves to straddle his lap. Then she sits up, letting the sheets fall from her body, exposing her bare figure to him.

"Maybe you can remind me how thankful you are,"

Ward chuckles. "We'll have to make this quick, we'll be kicked out of this room soon. But don't worry. Later when we're alone, I plan on making this a daylong event."

The smile playing at her lips widens, "'Sounds perfect." She then leans down into another kiss.


	3. Spirit in the Sky

...

 **Author's Note: I told myself I would never share one of these types of stories, since our ship as gone through enough pain and suffering as it is, but here we are. I honestly couldn't think of a better AU for this song, considering I see nether Skye nor Ward being religious people. So I ended up going for it. Apology's in advance, for possible tears, and 'cause I never write things like this, so if it's bad or subpar you have all rights to blame me.**

 **[Terminal Illness AU] [Hurt/Comfort/Romance] [T]**

...

...

' _When I die and they lay me to rest,_

 _Gonna go to the place that's the best,_

 _When I lay me down to die,_

 _Goin' up to the spirit in the sky.'_

 _~Norman Greenbaum_

...

Grant walks pass the rows of stone graves. Each are engraved with the name of loss loved ones and those that left this world too soon. To him, she is both of those.

Each footstep feels heavier as he continues down the path. He grips the bouquet of white calla lilies tightly. She never a big fan of roses, she thought that they're cheesy romantic clichés. He loved that about her. Always doing what felt right to her, always speaking her mind. Oh what he would do to hear her voice again.

...

" _Skye, you're not following the recipe!" Grant said, taking the cookbook from her hands._

" _Yes I am!" she protested, pulling the book from his grasp. She pointed to the instructions. "See? It's says a quarter cup of sugar!"_

 _Grant sighed, pinching the bridge of nose. "No, Skye. You were about to pour a quarter cup of salt in instead of sugar!" Grant gestured his hands towards the filled measuring cup on the countertop._

 _Skye stared down at it for a moment, she bit her lip. "Ohhh... Yeah. Sorry about that." Skye poured the salt back to the container that it was taken from._

" _Okay baby. Why don't you take a nice warm bath or something and I'll finish dinner? I love you and all, but you cannot cook."_

 _Skye placed her hands on her hips. "Hey, I can cook..." Grant gave her this deadpan look. She paused, her mouth hanging open._

" _Fine, I guess I will take that bath." She stood on her tippy toes and leaned forward, but stopped just as they were a breath away from each other. "But that bath would be better with you in it too."_

 _Grant smirked. "Just let me finish up, and then I'll be happy to join." He gave her a quick peck on the lips, before she returned to the heels of her feet._

" _I'm looking forward to it," Skye winked with promise of what was next to come._

 _..._

Grant swallows hard as he approaches the final resting place of his wife. Inscribed in the gray stone are the words;

SKYE WARD

1988-2017

FRIEND AND WIFE

SHOWED US THAT BEAUTIFUL THINGS

CAN COME FROME THE MOST UNLIKELY PLACES.

It's been almost three months since she passed and these pass months have been the roughest in his life. He lost the one person that made his a better man, who had faith in him even when he was lost. And now she's just gone.

Over a year ago Skye was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. If she had the surgery, it would have likely left her in a fragile, dependent state or would have done the same damage as the actual tumour would have done. And rounds of chemotherapy were proven ineffective, so they ended up decided that it was doing her more harm than good, so they took her off of it.

But Skye didn't want to know when she was going to die. She out right refused to know when she was due. The doctors voiced a few concerns, but ultimately allowed her dedication. Skye said that she wanted to live the rest of her life like was going to die tomorrow and not let thinking about a ticking clock ruin it.

 _..._

" _Grant, wake up," Skye said, shaking his sleeping body awake. "Wake up."_

 _Grant rolled over to face her, the glow of the streetlights outlined her in the dark room. He wiped his hand over his one of his eyes. "What is it?" he asked in his half awaken state._

 _Skye replied, "I want to drive outside the city and watch the sunrise. Pretty, pretty please?"_

" _Okay." He smiled. "I'm impressed that you're awake at—" he turned to the clock for a second. "4:57. I'll make something quick for breakfast and then we can go."_

" _Thank you." Skye smiled. Grant gave her a kiss on her temple, then he rolled out of bed._

 _..._

During her last month she was hospitalized, after her symptoms became worse. He would visit Skye every day, and spend most nights at her bed side. He didn't want to leave her side, not even to walk around, or get a drink, because she was the only thing he needed.

They watched bad movies, played battleship, and sometimes waltzed around the room when she felt up to it. Sometimes they spent long nights contemplating life, or trying to figure out why _Firefly_ was cancelled.

...

 _Grant sat at her bedside, playing with her hair as she stared up at the ceiling. Skye took a deep breath before turning to him._ _"I'm a good person, right?" Skye asked, breaking the silence._

" _Of course you are, you're the best people I know," Grant said, taking her hand. "What kind of question is that?"_

 _Skye looked up back at the ceiling, away from his gaze. "I don't know. I've just can't stop thinking. When I die—"_

 _Grant interrupted, "If you die." Skye shook her head._

" _No Grant, when I die. There is no use ignoring it." Skye turned her head, looking at her husband with the sweetest sadness in her eyes. "When I...die, will I go to a better place, if—if Heaven exists?"_

 _Grant gripped her hands tighter as she continued, "You know I've never have been a really religious person, no matter what the nuns did at the orphanage, I could never get pass Genesis in the bible." she laughed quietly. "But I still hope that Heaven, or some type of Heaven is real. 'Cause I heard it's a nice place." She smiled timidly. "And I'll wait forever if I have to for you to join me."_

 _He looked away from Skye's gaze. "You know I've done some bad things Skye." Grant sighed. "You know I killed when I was in service."_

" _But you did it for your country. You did to come back home to your wife who would have killed you over again if you didn't come back." Skye smile widened. "And if you're really concerned that you're not going to heaven, I could probably ask Jesus for a favour."_

...

He falls onto his knees in front of the grave, taking a deep breath before saying, "Hey, Skye. I know it's been a few weeks. I'm sorry that I haven't visited sooner. It's just been rough lately. I started to pack away your things, and yes, even your collectables that I've been forbidden from touching. But don't worry, I put them away carefully." Grant forces a small laugh before continuing. "It's quite in the house without you. Even though I hated you singing in the shower, I—I miss that..."

Grant places the flowers in front of grave. He leans over, bushing his fingertips against the cold stone. He feels a tear roll down his cheek, following another, and another. He's tears aren't just because of what happened, but also for the life they could have had if it wasn't cut short.

They used to talk about moving to the suburbs and getting house with a white picket fence. They talked about dark haired, rosy cheeked babies, and what they would name them. They pictured themselves growing old with each other, visits with grandchildren, telling old stories from 'back in the good old days'. But now, this dream of theirs can't ever become a reality.

...

 _Grant heard noises stir on the bed, so he quickly put the final flowers into place and hurried her to bedside._

 _Skye's eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the light. "Good morning beautiful." Grant pushed aside a lock of hair and kissed her on the forehead._

" _Hey." Skye smiled, pushing herself up. She looked around the room at all the bouquets of seemingly every type of flowers (except for roses of course) on every flat surface. There was nearly enough flowers to run a flower shop._

 _Skye met his gaze again and asked, "Grant, what's all this?"_

" _Well, this is not what I'd normally do for our anniversary, so I had to do change up the routine a little." Grant reached over the side table and grabbed a tray._

" _What? Damn, I forgot. I'm so sorry. How could I forget about our four years of marriage?"_

" _It's alright. You have better things to worry about. I made your favourites; waffles, eggs, bacon and juice," Grant said, passing the tray to her._

" _Thanks babe." Skye took the breakfast gratefully. "How did you arrange this?"_

 _Grant chuckled. "I may or may have not been hoarding flowers at our house while you were here, and snuck out at four in the morning to make breakfast."_

 _Skye laughed. "Wow, it smells delicious." She reached for the glass of orange juice first. Gripping the cup, she raised to her mouth. Then faster than either of them could react, the cup slipped out from her hands, shattering against the tray._

" _I...I"_

" _Skye, are you alright?" She stared at her hand, struggling to open and close it._

" _I—I can't control my hand," she cried. Grant moved the tray and pulled her into his arms._

" _It's alright," Grant reassured, stroking her back tenderly._

" _What—what if it isn't?" she sobbed against his shoulder. "What if it's getting worse?" Grant felt his shoulder growing damp with tears as his tighten his grip on her._

" _Just have a little faith Skye."_

 _..._

Grant stares at the grave, not daring to speak. He takes deep breath after deep breath. He doesn't really know what to say. Words can only being to grasp what he's feeling.

He shakes his head, pulling out of his gaze before softly speaking again, "You know I've never been really good with words, but what I'm trying to say is that it hasn't been the same without you." Grant smiles timidly, trying to mask his pain like he would always do, but that defence fails as the tears continue to fall.

He looks away for a moment, it being too much for him. He used to be locked down and closed off, but after he met Skye, everything changed. Grant chocks back his sob and wipes his eyes.

Playing with his wedding ring he says, "It's kind of funny, actually. When we first met in university, I couldn't stand you. I thought you were reckless and—and you loved to annoy me and back then I couldn't wait to get away from you, but fate had other plans for use apparently. You know what they say about women; can't live with them, can't live...without them..."

...

 _Grant's eyes shot open, the sound of vigorous beeping waking him up. He looked at the heart monitor, which was sounding off. "Skye!"_

 _He gazed down at her. Her eyes were closed and she was completely still, not even her chest rising up and down with each breath. Grant grabbed her arm and shook her body back and forth. "Skye, Skye are you with me? Give me a sign! Say something! Anything! Skye! No, no, no, no... Skye!" he screamed, failing to hold back tears._

 _He reached to lace his hand with her, holding her tightly. "Please don't leave me. I can't do this alone. Please—please wake up, wake up..." There was no response, her eyes didn't spring open, there was no witty remark with an awful punch line. No, Skye was lifeless in his arms and he couldn't do anything about it._

 _The door swung open, two doctors rushed into the room. "Sir, I need you to leave."_

" _But—but she's my wife!" Ward stood up from his chair, still holding her hand as tight as ever._

" _We'll do everything in our power to save her. But we need you to leave!" the other doctor said, rushing to the equipment._

 _Grant backed away as other nurses flooded the room, letting his grip slide from her and her hand fell back to her side. He stared at Skye as he walked away, but with people surrounding her, he soon lost sight of her._

 _Grant stubbed into the hallway with shallow breaths and tears streaming down his face. His back hit the wall, and he slid down until he touched the ground._

" _No..."_

 _..._

The words ' _Mr Ward, I'm so sorry for your loss,"_ still echo in his ears to this day. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees that exact scene play on repeat. He might not be able to let go, but he's been trying, that's what Skye would have wanted. She would have never wanted to get in the way of his happiness, but the only problem was that Skye is his happiness.

Grant runs his figures over the letters one last time. He leans over, pressing gentle a kiss on the top of the grave. He gives one last long look. "Good bye, Skye." His words are barely audible. Pushing himself up from the ground, wipes the water from his eyes. "I—I love you."

He turns away, taking the path that he had taken before. Grant doesn't want to look back, he doesn't want another reminder that Skye is gone for good. But she is. If he wants any hope of moving on, he as to face the music. Grant looks back, looking at the same scene he left. He sighs, forces a weak smile and then continues to walk down between the stone slabs.


	4. Moonage Daydream

...

 **Author's Note: This was so weird to try and figure out an AU for since the lyrics seemingly make zero sense and no matter how many times I listen to the song, it still makes very little to no sense to me. So I thought '** _ **Might as well do a space bounty hunters AU, right?'**_

 **Warning; I'm not very good at writing action sequences and I'm totally out of my element on this one.**

 **After writing over 1,000 words, I realized,** _ **'Wait, I can't write action or at least good action'**_ **. Then I ended up deleting half of the story and re-working the entire plot! So I could actually write some of the scenes! Can someone** _ **please**_ **teach me how to write action sequences or direct me to somewhere/person that can help me with this? Thanks!**

 **[Space Bounty Hunters AU] [Romance/Sci-Fi] [T]**

...

 _..._

' _Keep your 'lectric eye on me babe_

 _Put your ray gun to my head_

 _Press your space face close to mine, love  
_

 _Freak out in a moonage daydream oh yeah!'_

 _~David Bowie_

 _..._

Skye blinks awake and rolls over to find a second body missing from the bed. She sighs, but after more than a year of being together, this is what she would be expecting.

Sometimes she wished she had a 'normal life', waking up beside her boyfriend, he making her favourite Earth comfort breakfasts, watching the morning news or something. But instead her boyfriend wakes up in the early morning to pilot their ship and looks for job offers to capture or kill for money. Even if it's not your typical romance it's all types of thrilling and she loves it. Sure, the domestic life might look good on paper, but it's would get very boring, very quickly.

Skye would normally love to sleep in, but sleep doesn't earn you money. Yawning, she moves the covers off of her body and rolls out of bed. Her bare feet are cold on the floor, but it doesn't bother her. At the door she pushes a button on the wall and it slides open.

She can hear the faint sound of the engine running and creaking in the walls as the door closes behind her.

She looks down the hallway. Seeing a glow from the kitchen, Skye makes her way down the hall and into the kitchen to see Ward, typing away on their laptop. Skye approaches him without saying a word, but he probably already knows she's there. She stands behind him, wrapping her arms on his shoulders and laced them together on his chest.

"Found any jobs babe?" Skye asks as she rests her chin on the top of his head.

"In fact I did." Ward clicks over to another tab, filled with information on their next target and a picture of one of the galaxy's most famous philanthropist. "Our next target is Ian Quinn."

"Ian Quinn, the billionaire playboy? I thought he was big on donations and creating new tech." Skye breaks her grip on Ward and takes a seat beside him.

"Yeah, I thought that too, but apparently not." Ward shrugs, before continuing to scroll down thought the lines of information. "Apparently he made his millions by breaking intergalactic laws and stealing other company's tech. And now SHIELD wants him in their custody."

Skye raises an eyebrow. "I thought SHIELD hated bounty hunters, why don't they send men in themselves?"

Ward replies, "With Quinn's reputation, I guess that he's untouchable to SHIELD. There would be a public out roar if they took him in. But I agreed to take the job regardless. They're offering us 80 000 units for Quinn's capture." Skye goes wide eyed and her jaw practically drops. They haven't gotten a reward offer that large since, well, ever.

"Damn, that's enough to upgrade all our systems to military grade. This will be a piece of cake compared to the other jobs we've done. SHIELD is practically throwing money at us. Did you find Quinn's last known location?"

"He is residing at his multimillion dollar mansion on Qudruna. I've already set our course and we should be arriving within the hour."

Skye nods, before giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll go heat up some pumpkin pancakes or something." She stands and heads towards the fridge.

...

They're trying to find a clearing amongst the thick forest canopy. There were bunches of winding green trees, like Skye was used to on Earth. But there are also trees with purple and blue leaves and glowing vines. The scenery is stunning in the light of the rising sun, with towers of natural rocks that stand on such narrow point, crystal clear waterfalls and wildlife flying above the trees. She'll admit that Quinn has a good taste in planets.

After hovering above the tree line for a good two minutes, they were finally able to find a clearing near a small pond.

The power on the ship's thrusters changes as they descended onto the cleared patch of land. Like always, the ship lands smoothly and with minimum turbulence. Skye would expect no less coming from Grant Ward.

His voice comes on the PA system. "Skye, suit up. We've arrived in Qudruna."

Skye turns away from the window, and get up from her spot in the couch. She closes the lid of her laptop before heading towards the cargo hold.

...

When she arrives, Ward is already slipping on his brown leather jacket and then adjusts the cuffs to his liking. "So what did you find about the layout of Quinn's home?"

Skye walks towards the weapons rack and informs, "Quinn is probably somewhere in the central part of the house, where the master suite, the main living and the kitchen are located. I doubt that he'll been in the west or east wings." She grabs her dual laser guns off the shelf and slips them into her holsters attracted to each leg.

"There will be armed guards on the ground and in the home, twenty five at absolute most." Skye as she slides a knife into a compartment in her boots. "There are no other settlements in a fifty mile radius, so don't be worried about more goons coming. There are no electric fences or sharks with laser beams as far as I'm concerned."

"That sounds easy enough," Ward replies as he straps a laser rifle to his back and slips a laser gun in a holster.

"Hopefully it is," Skye slips on her dark blue leather and hits a button on the wall to lower the ramp.

Skye's about to head out, but stop and smirks at the bright idea that pops into her head. She looks over at her boyfriend. "Whoever catches Quinn gets to be on top tonight." Skye flashes a quick wink at him before running out of the cargo bay and into the lush, mysterious forest.

"Hey!" She hears Ward call behind her, followed by the sound of footsteps and the closing ramp.

The footsteps draw closer and Ward runs pass her. He looks back, a smug grin plastered on his face. "Prepare to play my game tonight," he says before running full speed ahead.

Skye rolls her eyes playfully. "Show off," she mutters, before picking up the pace.

...

The pair finally reached Quinn's mansion after a good ten minutes of trudging through the forest and now stand at the edge of the property, looking onto the backyard of the house. Right off the bat they already see a guard at the back doors.

"So how are we doing this?" Skye asks, crouched down beside one of the massive trees.

Ward narrows his gaze on the guard before saying. "We'll stay in the tree line, sneak around to the side, the sun still isn't fully out so we should be able to go unnoticed. Then we run up beside the house and get around to the back, there we can get the jump on him without him seeing us coming from a mile away." He looks over to her. "Got it?"

Skye nods before standing up from her spot and following Ward in the cover of the trees. When they are out of sight from the guard they run up a slight slope to the house with ease. Their footsteps are light as they walk to the back porch while, both of them are pressed against the wall as they walked.

Skye sneaks a glance around the corner. The guard is unaware of their presents. Instead he stares out to the forest, watching the exotic birds fly by. It's almost funny how he seems so calm and unaware of what is next to happen.

She turns her head back and reaches down for one of her laser gun. She looks over at Ward, who gives her a quick nod. Taking a deep breath, she makes sure that the gun is set to stun. She calls to the training that Ward put her though. Skye closes her eyes and pictures where the guard is and where she has to aim for the perfect shot.

Skye opens her eyes, gripping the gun and turns the corner. She fires bang on to the man's arm and he falls to the ground with a _thud_.

"Got him," Skye says before stepping out from behind the wall.

"You're aim has really improved," he praises as they walk towards the back door. "But it's still not as good as mine."

Skye lets out a snort. "I know you couldn't just give me a compliment. You didn't even see the shot. You don't know how well I did."

"I just know baby." Ward smirks. Skye rolls her eyes. He's all kinds of smug, but somehow she loves him anyways.

Skye continues on and she peeks into the kitchen through the glass French doors. "Coast is clear." She reaches for the handle and quietly turns the knob. She opens it just wide enough for the two of them to enter.

There is no one in the room, not even the hum of a dishwasher occupies the room. It's the slightest bit unsettling to Skye in a 'calm right before the storm' kind of way. Skye closes the door behind them slowly and without a sound.

Ward gives her a tap on the shoulder, and nudges his head towards the front stairs. Understanding what he's implying, she follows him, as they walk quietly towards the front foyer.

As they approach the foyer, they stick closer to the wall. Skye is about to creak around the corner, but freezes at the sound of footsteps that echo from the stairs.

She is about to step out and shoot the target, but Ward put his arm out to stop her. She doesn't know what he's planning, but she stands down, putting her trust in him. He takes a step in front of her as the footsteps grow louder. Her heart is pounding, she know that they will get caught if Ward doesn't do something.

Then a guard walks into the kitchen, dressed and armed like the one they took out. He doesn't notice them until Ward springs out, wrapping one arm around the guard's neck, the other covering his mouth, muffling the guard's cries for help. Ward pulls him back behind the wall as the guard still struggles to break free. But soon, he is lured unconscious and Ward sets him down against the wall gently.

"Why couldn't I just shoot him?" Skye asks in a barely audible whisper.

"There might be guards upstairs that would hear us," he responds in the same hushed tone as her. "But don't worry. You'll have the chance to shoot people." Skye likes his thinking. She nods before continuing into the foyer.

The foyer is about three, maybe four times larger than the master bedroom that they have back on the ship. Everything from the massive crystal chandelier to the display of artifacts for various planets to the large custom window above the door screamed ' _I'm rich, don't you forget that'_. Skye's kind of jealous of the person that will be inheriting Quinn's wealth when he's behind bars. You know how many shawarmas you can buy instead of four hundred dollar knickknacks? Well, a lot of shawarmas.

Skye takes another step towards the stairs before a voice yells out, "What are you doing here?!" cutting through the silence. She looks up to see a guard starting at the top of the stairs, his gun pointed straight at her. Ward fires two shots, which shatters the glass banister but missing its intended target.

In the time where the guard ducks for cover, Skye darts up the stairs, skipping steps as she went. The guard fires at Skye, both near misses. He's about to fire again, but Skye beats him to it, knocking him out cold with a blast to the shoulder. She flashes a competitive smirk at him. Takedown count today; Skye two, Ward one.

She continues up to the second floor, Ward trails behind her. They see a pair of guards running towards them. Ward's finger is hot on the trigger and is able to shoot them down with ease.

Okay; Skye two, Ward three. She has to step up her game.

"Quinn must be down that way," Ward says before taking off down the hall.

As they run, Skye grows out of breath, but does her best to ignore it. As the gap between Ward and her becomes larger, she pushes herself, trying to catch up with him.

They turn down another hallway that opens up a little larger. Another guard comes out from a side room. He throws a punch as Ward, who swiftly dodges it. Ward then pushes the guard into a wall, but the guard shoves Ward back, standing his ground. The guard takes another punch at Ward but he catches it, and throws him to the ground before knocking him out with the butt of his gun.

Skye runs up to him. "There is a pair of double doors ahead, that must be Quinn's master bedroom," Skye says as Ward wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Right," Ward responds before taking off again. They reach the fancy, perfect white door, and kick both open in unison.

In the massive bedroom there stands Quinn and three guards at his sides, their guns aimed and ready to fire.

"Well, well, these are our unwelcomed guest." Quinn claps his hands together. "Bounty hunters I see? And may I ask who sent you? I can probably pay double what they're paying you."

She stands silent, her breaths deep yet steady. She just stands with her gun pointed at Quinn, her finger gripping on the trigger. She glances at Ward briefly, who's mirroring her stance.

"Well? What's your answer?"

"SHIELD hired us," Skye says, not seeing the harm of telling him.

"SHIELD huh? I though they weren't a fan of bounty hunters," Quinn pauses before saying. "Well anyways, what are they offering you, 40 000, 50 000? Whatever it is, I can double it. Heck I can double that and get you a two a nice, romantic vacation home on any planet you want. I can see you like that idea." Quinn winks at Ward, who has a stoic look on his face.

"So what will it be guys? I'm not your problem. If I live or die, it won't affect you. You can't just tell you little SHEILD friends that you failed to catch me and you can live a life with white sandy beaches and clear blue skies. What's it going to be?"

Skye doesn't know what call to make, or if she entitled to make a call at all. She no sidekick, but Ward has been doing this for longer and she trust his decisions more than hers.

"Well, if we want to keep our reputation of never failing a job, we'll have to decline." Ward shoots one of the guards head on, and fires at another guard, but it only brushes against him arm.

Skye and Ward duck down as the guards fire back. Ward rises back up slightly, taking another shot, but misses. They hurry over to the living area in the room and take cover behind the chairs.

"I kind of wanted that romantic vacation home," Skye says, taking a few shots.

"Don't worry. When were done here, we can take a nice long vacation," Ward assures. He narrows his gaze towards the guards, putting on his ' _Shush, I'm making a plan_ ' face.

"Our best chance right now is to engage in hand-to-hand. You have my back?"

"Lead the way."

She stands a little higher and follows Ward. She fires at the guards and Quinn, whom are hidden behind the bed, returning fire at them. It's almost a shame that her gun fire creates burns on Quinn's white, silk sheets, _almost_.

Ward rushes towards their adversaries, sliding over the bed. He lands right on top of them and engaging in a fist fight with the guards.

Skye uses this time to run around and she shoots the guard that tries to attack Ward from behind. The guard falls to the ground, his gun slipping from his grasp. Ward takes advantage of this and judo flips the other guard onto the ground and punches him out cold in a single hit.

The duo is trying to catching their breath and they almost forget about their target. In unison, they both look down at Quinn.

"So hey," Quinn chimes in as he still sits beside the bed. "I know you wrecked some of my house, but my offer still stands." He smiles, looking up at them the entire time. But Skye still catches it, his hands inching toward the discarded gun. Skye kicks the gun away just as Quinn's finger tips touch it.

"Okay you got me," Quinn sighs. "But think about it. I can still double whatever SHIELD giving and think about that vacation home. It can be isolated, so you can have some nice time to yourselves—" He's interrupted by a punch square in the nose.

"Shut up, weren't not interested in your damn vacation home."

"Okay," Quinn wipes the blood dripping out of his nose. "So no vacation home, but what if—"

She shoots Quinn and brings the gun up to her lips, blowing the smoke coming from the barrel. "He was really getting on my nerves."

Ward reaches down and scoops Quinn in his arms and throws him over his shoulder. "I guess that I'm carrying him back?"

"You guessed right." She smiles, giving him a pat on the shoulder. Ward sighs before heading to the door. "You're the best babe!"

...

Ward places Quinn down on the bed in the cage. "Well that was pretty easy." He turned to Skye, who leans against the door frame.

"Yeah, but it was like of a shame that we wrecked such a nice house."

"Don't worry, Quinn probably has 30 000 dollars tucked away just in case of home break- ins."

"I guess you're right," she steps out towards him. "But I'll admit the romantic vacation home was pretty appealing." Skye rises to her toes and a gives him a quick peck on the lips.

Ward smiles. "I already set the ship's coordinates and we should be arriving at the rendezvous point by tonight."

Skye smirks. "Tonight you say? Remember that deal we made before the mission?" She drags her hand down his chest. "Technically I was the one who knocked out Quinn. So I want you to wash up and in our bed in twenty minutes. Is that doable?"

"Yes ma'am." Ward says before leaving down to kiss her, but she steps away.

She shakes her head. "Not yet. Twenty minutes, I think you can wait until then."

Ward snickers. "You're such a tease."

"But you love that about me, don't you?" Skye puts a hand at her hips.

"Sometimes." Ward smiles.

Skye turns to walk about of the room, flashing a wink at her partner before making her exit.

Screw the domestic life. _This_ is what Skye lives for.


	5. Fooled Around and Fell In Love

...

 **Author's Note: I don't know why I wanted to write an AU where Ward is pretty much a male Taylor Swift but I thought it would fit well for this song, so I threw logic to the wind and started typing!**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

 **[Celebrity AU] [K+] [Humour/Romance]**

...

...

' _I must have been through about a million girls_

 _I'd love 'em and I'd leave 'em alone_

 _I didn't care how much they cried, no sir_

 _Their tears left me cold as a stone_

 _But then I fooled around and fell in love_ '

 _~Elvin Bishop_

...

Grant Ward doesn't consider himself a playboy per say, but he'll admit that he has dated a lot of women. At this point it's kind of his reputation.

At the beginning of his music career, he wasn't too interested about dating and such. But his manager, John Garrett, thought it would be good to get out there and not let his job get in the way of trying to find someone. At first Grant through that it was just a way to stir up some gossip, but he tried finding someone anyways, thus marked the start of Grant Ward's onslaught of infamous of short lived relationship.

It's not like he didn't want to find someone, it's just that he's never really felt something meaningful for people he's been with in the long run. Even his most notable relationships lasted no longer than a few months. He hasn't been in as many relationships at the public thinks, but it's still more than he would like.

And when the time came to break it off, he never really felt too bad. Maybe that makes him a playboy, but it was just another sign that what he had with previous relationships were never that meaningful.

It became a formula of sorts; date, break up, write a song about it and repeat. Grant soon found that some of his best songs come are inspired by his experiences, which meant a lot of break up and songs about former relationships. The songs about exes that exploited him or relationships that ended in a heated argument always are award winners and chart toppers.

By far, the longest relationship his has been in was with his now best friend Kara. It lasted a year and a half and it didn't end too horribly. It was a nice being with Kara for the first few months, but soon it became clear that they were going nowhere. In retrospect, they probably stayed together just for the sake of being together. Kara and him are just friends now and have never let their failed romance get in the way of their friendship.

But after they broke the relationship off, another slew of meaningless relationships began. Well, until Skye Coulson came crashing into his life.

It started when Phil Coulson, owner of SHIELD Records, was negotiations deals with Garrett, talking about collaborations with their different artist. Coulson brought along his daughter Skye, who headed company's media venture.

Grant Ward was one of the musicians that Coulson wanted one of his artists to collaborate with, so he was around the Coulsons for a chuck of the day. Usually Grant finds meetings like this repetitive and a little nerve racking, but this time he felt a little more relaxed. Maybe it was because Phil Coulson was a fairly laid-back type of guy, but it was probably because of Skye's effortless charm and beauty.

Grant has met some very attractive women before—heck, he's even dated models before—but there was just something about Skye that he was drawn to. Maybe it was the way she worked hard and sought to be equals with everyone in the room. Or it could have been her wit and light hearted sense of humour. But either way, he was defiantly interested in her.

So when her father was out of the room, Grant started a conversation. It had been a few months since he had been with a girl, so he thought _'why the heck not?_ ' and asked Skye out. He flirted with her, using his famous charm to ask her if she's interested in getting a drink with him sometime. By the way the conversation was going, Grant thought that he had it in the bag. But no, in a turn of events, she totally blew him off.

He remembers her clearly saying to him, " _Do you really think that I don't know what kind of man you are? I've watched the news and listened to your songs. I think you're a great artist and all, but given your reputation with break ups, I don't think that you are exactly boyfriend material._ " Then Skye turned around and walked right out of that room and only returned when she had to join her father in negotiations.

He wasn't the type to be rejected often, and he can't remember the last time he was rejected like that. Despite the fact that she gave a loud and clear 'no', that ended up just making Grant more intrigued with her, he wanted to get to know her more now. It's clear that Skye holds herself up strong, and you could say that he finds it as an attractive trait. Maybe it was foolish to try and pursue her again, but it was almost like a challenge to see if Grant could win her over.

After Coulson and Garrett's deal had settled, Grant was shipped over to SHIELD Records to work on a few singles with the artist there. This also meant that he was seeing Skye more often.

When he ran into her the first couple of times, there was this underlying tone of hostility when she talked to him or looked at him for that matter. She made sure to remind him that she's not interested.

So he decided to take a different approach to the situation. Right off the bat he didn't try to flirt with her, just engage a friendly conversation. And much to his surprise, Skye continued the conversation willingly. They're small talk bounced from topics like the weather, to musicals and to latest episode of Game of Thrones. He noticed as they talked more, she seemed less hostile towards him. She even started to start some of the conversations and it didn't seem even the slighted bit forced. It seem like she just wanted to have a pleasant, genuine talk with him.

...

Then the tides turn in his favour.

It was about four months ago. Skye wanted him to come in and finalize some of the details for releasing singles. It was after work hours when the two of them talked in one of the meeting rooms. They were there for a good two hours, but their conversation steered from discussing business to more of a chat between close friends.

" _So how long have you been in media?" he asked, sitting in a spinning office chair beside her._

" _Well I was pretty much a hacker in my teens, before Phil and Melinda adopted me. So when they took me in, I wanted to make a change. Instead of hacking to share information with people illegally, I turned to media and marketing. I went to university, got my degree in media marketing, dad brought me aboard in a heartbeat and the rest is history." Skye smiled, screwing off the cap of her water bottle and taking a sip._

" _So how did you get into hacking anyways?"_

 _Skye paused for a moment. "Well, there was this guy I knew, he got me into hacking. He lived on the streets, I lived in the orphanage. He showed me the ropes and we got together. I thought it was going to last, it didn't. Miles—the guy—wasn't a great person. I found out that he would pull scams online, take advantage of innocent people and he couldn't be faithful to me, so I tipped off the police about him..." Skye let out a nervous laugh, tucking a stray locks of hair behind her ear. "Sorry, I'm rambling. I don't even know why I'm telling you this."_

 _Grant smiled, shaking his head slightly. "It's alright. At least the whole world doesn't know your entire love life."_

" _Can you tell me about it?" Skye smirked, clasping her hands together. "I've always wanted to hear some of Grant Ward's relationship drama from the man himself."_

 _He snickered. "Alright, what do you want to know?"_

" _Umm, I don't know." Skye shrugged. "What's up with the whole playboy thing? You're a nice guy. Is it just an act?"_

 _He sighed. "Well, it's a little complicated. I've legitimately find something that will last, but it really hasn't worked out. I've been in relationships that I thought would last, but something always get in the way, or they weren't the person I thought they were. " Grant shrugged. "I just want to be sure when I decide to be with someone in the long run. If it takes a million tried until I find 'the one', so be it. But I have to say; I'm really tired of searching." Grant sighed._

" _Huh," Skye said, nodding her head. "I always thought that you just dated women for the sake of dating women."_

 _Grant shakes his head. "Well you know the truth now. I haven't really dated anyone just for the sake of dating someone. When I'd ask someone out, I would be actually interested in them. I don't know if it's me or I'm a bad judge of character, but long term relationships don't like me."_

" _I'm sorry that I was so quick to judge you when we met."_

 _Grant lifted his hand slightly. "It's fine. I understand that I've been in a lot of relationship. Sometimes I think that_ I am _a playboy."_

" _Don't worry, you'll eventually find 'the one', I'm sure of it." Skye gave him a reassuring smile._

 _I took all of his will power not to ask her out again. But even though she understands him, he was afraid that it would end like every relationship that he's had._

" _Umm, it's getting pretty late," Grant said, standing from his seat. "I think I should get going."_

" _Oh, okay," There was no smile or cheerful remark. It was almost like she was preoccupied with something. He gave her a small smile before turning to leave._

 _But he feels her grab his hand. Grant turned to face her, he was about to ask her if someone was wrong, but she does the unthinkable. Skye grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and pulled him down, crashing her lips against his._

 _It took him a moment to respond, but before he could deepen the kiss, Skye already pulled away._

" _I'm sorry," red crept up her cheeks, she looked away. "That was impulsive."_

 _Grant cupped her cheek and moved her to face him again. He smiled at her and leaned down to kiss her again._

 _He's had many first kisses before, but none compare to his first kiss with Skye. It's a different than he would usually kiss a girl. He would like to test the waters first and take it step by step, start soft and sweet and only open his mouth or deepen the kiss when he's comfortable._

 _But with Skye, it was hard to keep his mouth close. There first kiss was hard, full and passionate filled. A hand on her cheek, the other on her lower back, he pulled her as close to him as possible. Even when it became hard to breath he didn't want to stop, he just wanted her and only her._

 _Their lips disconnect slowly, trying to savor their contact for as long as possible._

" _Wow," Skye breathed heavily. "Did you kiss all your girlfriends like that?"_

" _No, not at all," Ward tried to catch his breath as he shook his head. "If—if you give me a shot, maybe we can be different, we can be something special."_

" _I like the sound of that." Skye said before recapturing his lips._

...

They tried keeping their relationship as low-key as possible for as long and it was nice. They didn't have to worry about being bombarded with the press asking questions or articles being written about them. At that point, they only told a few people and they would god at keeping secret. But after over a month of dating, they decided to make their relationship public knowledge.

" _Say 'cheese' sweetheart," Grant said as they snapped a selfie of the two of them. They smiled into the camera and a flash came from her phone._

 _Grant brought the phone closer to take a better look at the picture._

" _Perfect," Skye said with a smile._

" _Agreed," Grant replied. He took the phone and selected it to post on instagram. "How does '_ I want you to meet my beautiful girlfriend, Skye Coulson. And this time, I'm sure she's the one. _#ForRealThisTime #TrueLove_ ' _sound to you?"_

 _Skye laughed, "It sounds a little cheesy by your standards, but I love it."_

" _Are you ready for my 99.8 million followers to know the truth?"_

 _Skye exhaled and nodded. "Yeah, I think I am." She watched as her boyfriend pressed_ post _._

" _There, now the world will know." Grant leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her temple._

And the internet exploded. To Grant, it wasn't much of a surprise, considering he has an army worth's of fans. But in the twenty-four hours that followed, it felt like every new outlet in America reported on his love life. It was such big news that Grant and Skye were afraid to go outside, because they know that they would be bombarded with questions. Luckily for them, the hype calmed down, eventually.

...

It's in the early hours in the morning as Grant sits at his desk, playing a tune, then writing and then more playing. Out off all the hits he's been able to single-handedly, this was by far the easiest to write. The words flow effortlessly and he is able to find his rhythm easily. Despite the fact that he should go to bed, he felts that he will forget the words if he sleeps.

The lyrics are in smudged pen in his leather notebook as he writes and rewrites the verses. He has to make it perfect for Skye and the whole world to hear.

He hears a yawn. "What'cha doin'?" asks distinct voice from behind. Grant closes his notebook and spins his chair around to meet Skye's doe eyes. "Why are you up so late?"

"I'm just writing a new song."

Skye walks towards him. "Oh, can I see?"

"No, it's not finish," he is quick to say.

"Come on!" Skye crosses her arms. "Just one peak, please?"

Grant says firmly, "No, you cannot."

" _Whyyy,"_ Skye wines. Skye takes a step closer, invading his personal space. She takes a seat on his lap and wraps her arms around his neck. "Why not?"

Grant pressed his lips together before sheepishly saying. "The song's for you."

Skye's expression brightens. "It is?" Grant nods. "Can you play it?"

"I _told_ you; it's not done."

Skye huffs," Okay fine, but can you come back to bed?"

Grant's about to protest, about to say that sleep will ruin his rhythm, but he says, "Okay." He scoops her up in his arms and carries her bridal-style towards the stairs. Skye yawns again, closes her eyes and snuggles closer in his arms. Grant smiles down at his girlfriend.

Those millions of date and dozens of times he's had his heart broken were well worth it. He was beginning to lose hope that he would ever find a girl to settle down with. But he was lucky enough for Skye to come into his life, and be more to him than just a loveless fling. No, he's convinced that she's the one.


	6. I'm Not in Love

...

 **Author's Note: This is a pretty short one, but I hope you enjoy regardless.**

 **Also, I will be doing a fic collection for the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 soundtrack. It just came out and man, there are only a few songs that remotely can be related to SkyeWard. This is going to be a challenge, so I'd say it'll come out more than a month after this collection is finished.**

 **[Season One Canon Divergent] [T but a touch on the M side] [Drama is guess? This doesn't really fit into fanfiction. net's genres or any genre at all. Is there a genre called 'contemplating life'?]**

...

...

' _I keep your picture_

 _Upon the wall_

 _It hides a nasty stain that's lying there  
_

 _So don't you ask me_

 _To give it back_

 _I know you know it doesn't mean that much to me_

 _I'm not in love, no no, it's because...'_

 _~10CC_

 _..._

It's nothing personal.

Ward tells this to himself as lies wide awake, staring at the hotel ceiling. He's tired and pretty worn out, but is unable to be lured to sleep. His thoughts take control of him and they don't plan on stopping or slowing down.

He tells himself that this has been nothing more than relief, that it's just a way to get her to trust him. She offered him to talk and joined her in her hotel room with a bottle of booze. They drank while he talked a little about his past and she talked about hers. Then before either of them knew it, they fell onto the bed with their lips locked and their clothes quickly discarded.

He's slept with targets before, so why is this any different? But there was something about sex with her that he just can't wrap his head around. Maybe she was just good. He'll admit that she's the best that he's ever had. But sex with Skye felt different, it feels like it was on another level with Skye and he can't quite explain why.

Maybe it's because he knows her on a more personal level than the targets that he's just met and never sees again, maybe it's because she's the most attractive women he's slept with, or maybe it's from the affects of the Berserker staff. It's plain confusing and he hates it. He's a specialist, things like this are supposed to be simple, all planed and calculated.

It seems that every time he'll tries draws a conclusion, he'll end up second guessing himself and call the idea insane.

One of his early conclusions was that he's in love with her, plain and simple. Well, not that plain, nor simple. In any other scenario, he would think that he's in love, all the signs are there, but that just seems absurd. All his life he's emotions have always been locked down nothing could tear down his walls. He's practically never been in love in all of his life, so why would he fall in love now? And even if Ward was in love with Skye, why would he fall in love with someone that intends on betraying right for the get go?

Skye is his trainee, his teammate and nothing more. The only reason he's here is to find out how Coulson came back to life. He came onto this team with the pre-existing knowledge of what he must ultimately do; betray the team. There is nothing here for him here anyways, it's not like any of the relationships he's built here are meaningful or real for that matter. At least his mind says his relationships with SHEILD-616 aren't meaningful or real.

Ward doesn't know why he's so wrapped up in this. Why is he caring so much about this? Well, he's caring because he wants answers, but there are many questions compared to answers. It's just plain infuriating. He shouldn't have let things get so messy.

If Garrett was here, he would laugh at him. He would tell Ward " _Looks like Romeo is_ _growing soft. Aw, is that street hacker getting under your skin Ward?_ " Ward would then deny Garrett's statement and brush that comment aside like it was nothing, as he always does.

Then in the mists of thinking, Skye snuggles closer to him in her slumber. Ward lets out a (content?) sigh, holding her tighter underneath the soft covers. He closes her eyes, letting himself feel Skye's warm, naked skin against his own. He matches the rise and fall of her chest as he slowly slips into sleep.

It's nothing personal; maybe if he tells himself that enough times, it might become true.


	7. I Want You Back

...

 **Author's Note: I don't know why the heck this one was so hard for me to write and I had solid prompt and a general idea of the ending and stuff, but I got really stuck on this one for some apparent reason. Maybe it was because I've been writing non-stop for the last three weeks or so, but my god was hard to get into the swing of things for this one. So I hope you enjoy reading this one more that I enjoying staring blankly at my laptop asking myself '** _ **Why do words hate me all of a sudden?'**_

 **[Season Three Canon Divergent, Post Redemption AU] [Drama/Romance] [T]**

...

...

' _Oh baby, give me one more chance_

 _(To show you that I love you)_

 _Won't you please let me back in your heart?_

 _Oh darlin', I was blind to let you go_

 _(Let you go, baby)_

 _But now since I see you in his arms_

 _(I want you back)_ '

 _~The Jackson Five_

…

Ward stands in the mission room at the Playground. He taps his fingers in a repetitive rhythm against the halotable, attempting to distract himself. Right now, the last place he wants to be is here.

Ward is monitoring a mission that's Skye on. It's like every spy movie and television cliché; the fancy party with dancing, champagne and the gorgeous female agent in an equally gorgeous dress to look the part.

She's wearing a light blue silky dress that hugs her curves and has a flowing floor length skirt, with her chestnut hair curled to her bare shoulders. Let's just say that it's distracting as hell. But unfortunately the whole get-up is not for him. Instead, it's for Lincoln, he's the one pretending to be her boyfriend for the mission, _not Ward_.

Lincoln barely has any field training, but they need his powers for the mission. And now Ward has to stay at the base and talk them though the mission. This is torture, pure envious torture. Watching them holding hands, flirting and dancing together made his sick to his stomach.

Sure, Skye and Lincoln are not _actually_ together, but the thought of Skye being with someone else is making his skin crawl. Maybe that make him possessive, but after that whole Miles fiasco, but he doesn't want someone to scoop up the opportunity to ask Skye out before he has the chance to.

For a while now, Ward's been waiting for the chance to ask Skye out. They are finally on the same side and she sees him as a friend again, but Ward wants to be more than friends with her. Ever since the beginning he's been longing for her, but only recently has he believed that he might be good enough for her. And the last thing he wants Sparky ruining his chance with her.

He watches as the blue dots that represent Skye and Lincoln sneak down the hallways. They head into the server bay and Ward waits for an update.

" _Ward, we've gotten to the servers. I'm sending a file transfer now_." Skye's voice comes over the comms.

"Copy that," he replies as another tab pops up on the screen in front of him, showing new data downloading to SHIELD's archives.

" _Are any guards coming?_ " Lincoln asks.

Ward observes the moving red dots on the screen before responding, "There are three leaving the west corridor, but they aren't heading your way."

Ward continues to watch the security feed as they sneak out of the hallway and back into the ballroom. He switches the communication line and says, "Mack, Coulson, Skye and Lincoln have sent the information. They are heading to the ballroom."

He hears Coulson reply, " _We're en route. Tell them that extraction will arrive in fifteen minutes."_

"Understood sir." Ward changes the line again. "Coulson and Mack are on their way in fifteen minutes. Think you can survive until then?"

" _Ha ha Ward, I'm not your rookie anymore. I think I can handle myself."_ Ward can practically hear the sound of Skye rolling her eyes in an over dramatic fashion.

Ward deadpans, "You're not the one I'm worried about."

Skye snickers, " _Oh burn, Lincoln! I'm glad I'm not the rookie anymore, you—"_

"I'm going radio silent," Ward interrupts after realizing the bickering and banter won't stop on its own, and he mutes the comms before Skye could protest.

In the last few months, Skye has been acting more like the hacker groupie that he met over three years ago. He doesn't know if it's the fact that SHIELD-616 is back together or it's because she trust her again, but he does know that all of her sarcasm and sass constantly reminds him why he fell for her during his time undercover.

Ward turn as he hears the sound of footsteps entering the room, they belong to the last person he'd expect to visit. Hunter approaches him, holding out a beer and asks, "Want one?"

Ward eyes it for a moment, before taking it from the Brit. "Thank." Ward takes the bottle opener and pops it open.

Hunter smirks as he shakes his head. "I thought that I'd never see _Agent Grant Ward_ drinking on the job," Hunter snickers as Ward sighs and takes a sip.

"Well, I really need it now." Ward looks back at the security feed of Skye and Lincoln dancing. He takes a breath, felling Hunter's eyes staring at him. Hunter waggles his eyebrows when Ward looks back at him.

He snaps, "What Hunter?"

"Oh, I can see why you need a drink. You're jealous that Lincoln is Skye's undercover lover instead of you." Hunter says in a sing-song tone.

Ward nearly chokes on his drink. He didn't realize that it was that obvious. But he shakes his head. "It's not that," Ward lies right thought his teeth.

"Oh really?" Hunter raises an eyebrow. "I see the way you look at her mate. So you better make your move on her before Lincoln can."

"Hunter it's just…complicated."

"Oh so he admits!" Hunter takes a victory swig of beer. "I don't know why it's so complicated. I know about what happened before, but you changed for the better. If Skye fell for you back then, I don't see why she wouldn't right now."

Ward sighs. He hates to admit it, but maybe the mercenary is right. The worst thing that could happen is that she could totally blow him off and leave him forever, but what's the chance of that happening?

 _But what if that's what happens?_

"I don't want to talk about it," Ward mutters as he looks up at the screen.

Watching Skye and Lincoln ballroom dancing felts like a punch to the gut to him. Their smiles, their faces a breath away from each other, all of it makes him second guess himself. What if he's still not good enough for her, what if she's not interested, what if she's moved on already? But they are just 'what if's, it doesn't make them reality.

In the midst of his thought, he almost misses it, but he sees it crystal clear. Skye stops, grabbing Lincoln by his suit jacket, pulling him down to meet her and _kissing him_ hard and passionately.

Ward's heart sinks. The bottle nearly drops out of his hand, but manages to place it against the halotable in one piece. All of his doubts and fears come crashing over him at once, that world of 'what if's quick become what is. Ward quickly looks away from the screen to his hands, clenching on the edge of the halotable.

He chance is gone.

"Oh bloody hell," Hunter swears, breaking the uneasy mood hanging over the room. "I did not see that coming. How are you holding up?" Hunter turns to Ward who is still frozen in place.

Ward takes a sharp inhale, followed by a long exhale in attempts to calm his nerves. "It's fine," he says, masking his emotions like always.

"Like hell it's fine! Your lady just smooched another man!"

"I don't want to talk about it Hunter." Ward takes the last gulp of his beer and swallows hard.

…

After the mission they're in Coulson's office for debrief. Ward sits beside uncomfortably beside Lincoln as Skye explains the course of their mission. It's hard for Ward to sit still. He's would have been fine at the briefing, only if it wasn't for the smudges of red lipstick on Lincoln's lips. More than anything, he hates being jealous, but that part of him can't help but take over when it's concerning Skye.

Coulson then turns to Ward and asks, "And Ward, did you hand over the files to the lab?"

Ward nods like he always does, trying his best to mask all of the emotions that threaten to pour out. "FitzSimmons are analyzing it as we speak. They will be sending you an update once they find any valuable information."

"Thank you Agent Ward. You all are dismissed."

Ward stands and heads to the door without further discussion and avoids looking at either Skye or Lincoln.

Ward hears footsteps behind him as he steps out into the hallway, but doesn't stop and turn. "Hey Ward, want to play a round of Battleship later?" He hears Skye ask from behind him.

Ward doesn't answer. He could honestly care less now. Skye will probably just be stolen away by Lincoln during their game and make-out with him again.

"Hey Ward! Did you hear me?" she tries to grab his attention again. "Do you want to play Battleship?"

Ward mutters, "Maybe later." He has to get away. When he looks at her, the image of her warmly gazing at Lincoln pops into his head.

He stops when he feels Skye's hand at his shoulder. Ward turns face her. "Ward, I know your pout-y face. Is there something wrong?" Her voice is tender as she looks up at him with her doe eyes.

"I'm fine," Ward states firmly, moving out of her grasp. He then walks off, leaving her confused and concerned, but he ignores it. What he really needs something to distract him, something to punch.

…

Ward settles into a rhythm as he takes jabs at the punching bag. Working out is always how he keeps his mind occupied, but unlike the times before, he can't shake the image of Skye kissing Lincoln out of his head.

But more than anything, he hates that he missed is opportunity to be with Skye. Maybe he never had a shot in the first place, what if she's always been attracted to Lincoln instead of him. Well it's over, isn't it? His last chance is gone. Hopefully Lincoln can do better by her and not make the same mistakes that Ward made.

"Hey Ward," he holds the punching bag in place and turns his head to see Skye, walking into the training room. She exchanged her dress for a gray hoody and leggings, her make-up is wiped off and her hair is in a messy bun.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Maybe some other time Skye," Ward sighs, turning away from punching bag. He wipes the sweat off of his brow and walks towards the exit, while not making eye contact with Skye.

Skye grabs his arms as he's about to walk pass her. "Ward! What the hell are you mad at me?" Skye demands. "You've been giving me the cold shoulder ever since I can back from the mission! What did I do wrong?"

"No, you don't do any, it's just that I—I don't want to talk about it," Ward mutters before slipping out of her hold.

Skye sighs. "Grant, seriously. If I did something to upset you, you have to tell me." Her tone is softer than before. Her words are comforting to him, but only mutes the emotions screaming in his head for a few brief seconds.

He shakes his head. "If anything, I should be taking the blame. I'm happy for you. Lincoln is a great guy and I wish you two the best."

"Whoa Ward, what are you talking about?"

"You and Lincoln, I saw you kiss during the mission."

Skye has confusion written all over her face. "Why are you mad that Lincoln and I kissed? Are you jelo—"

"No," he's snap before tearing his gaze from her. "I mean, it's nothing." Ward walks pass her and quickly storms down the hall, but it doesn't stop her from following him.

He hears footsteps patter behind him. "Ward, I'm just teasing. Seriously, is there something wrong?"

Ward stops and swallows hard. "What does it matter? It's done already. I'm fine, I can move on, just as long as you're happy."

"What the hell are you talking about Grant?" She grabs his hand and pulls him to face her. "Talk to me, please." Her grip on him is tight, trying to keep him from walking away again.

"I know that you don't love me anymore, alright?!" He yells louder than intended, so much so that it echos through the quiet hallway. It startles her, but she doesn't back away. "I—I'm happy that you've moved on and don't let me stop you and Lincoln for being happy."

It's almost like time freezes. The two of them are afraid to speak, afraid to do so much as breathe. Ward stares into her eyes, searching for an answer or some kind of sign.

Skye takes a sharp inhale before grabbing Ward by the hem of his shirt and crashes her lips against his. It takes a second for him to realize what is going on but Ward doesn't protest. He doesn't question why it's happening or what's going thought her mind. No, and right now he frankly doesn't care right now. All he wants is to taste the fullness of Skye's lips and savoir the moment for as long as possible.

There was never a moment of hesitation in the kiss, just like a head first dive into the deep end. Out of pure impulse, he pulls her as close to him as possible, with only a thin layer of clothing between them. Skye's hands manage to weave themselves into his hair and she doesn't let Ward away from her grasp.

As the kiss continues their breathes become shallower until it becomes hard to bare. They lean their foreheads against each other's as their lips slowly disconnect.

"Is it bad that I kind of like jealous Ward?" Skye asks breathlessly. "'Cause he's a hell of a good kisser."

Ward grins smugly. "I'll take it as a complement."

He take a few rounds of long breathes before sheepishly asking, "Why did you kiss Lincoln?"

Skye laughs before a smile graces her perfect lips. "There were guards around and they wouldn't pay as much attention to some young, probably drunk couple making out on the dance floor. But don't worry, that kiss can't even hold a candle to this one." She gives him a quick peek in the lips. "And don't worry. Lincoln is too vanilla for my tastes."

Ward moves down to kiss Skye again, but she sneaks a finger in between their lips.

"I don't think that a hallway is the most romantic setting." Skye says, looking thought her lashes. Ward smiles as she takes his hand and drags him down the hallway.

He finally gets a moment to take in what just happened. He just kissed and made-up (and made-out) with _Skye,_ as in ' _she's probably out of his league'_ Skye. And now she's dragging him to her room with a smirk on her lips that shows what's get to come.

After working hard for his redemption and earning back the team's trust, he's finally home.


	8. Come and Get Your Love

...

 **Author's Note: Finally, I figured out what this song means! This took me so long to find an AU for, it's not even funny. The majority of this song are the words '** _ **Come and get your love'**_ **over and over again (plus a lot of la, la, la, la, la thrown in for good measures). But I did it, I figured out how to work with this song! (Also, they say 'main vine' in the song, does anyone know that that means?)**

 **I really thought that this song called for some smut, I could not deliver. There is build up, but there is nothing graphic or explicit. There's your warning if it makes you uncomfortable, so you can't sue me over it. But I hope you enjoy anyways.**

 **[Season Two-ish Canon Divergent, Post Redemption AU] [Hurt/Comfort/Romance] [T]**

...

...

' _Hail (hail)_

 _What's the matter with your hair? Yeah_

 _Hail (hail)_

 _What's the matter with your mind and your sign? And a, oh, oh, oh-a_

 _Hail (hail)_

 _Nothing the matter with your head baby, find it, come on and find it_

 _Hail_

 _With it, baby, 'cause you're fine, and you're mine, and you look so divine_

 _Come and get your love_ '

 _~Redbone_

 _..._

" _Skye, don't do this. Skye!"_

Bang. _A shot rings out and reverberates through the quiet night streets. Under the streetlights, Skye watches Grant Ward's body falls to the ground with a_ thud _. Blood begins to seep from the bullet wound in his stomach, draining him of his life. His mouth opens, like he's trying to choking out his last words. His breaths are shallow and fast, until they stop. His eyes flicker closed as the tension and struggle slips away from his body._

" _Grant!" Skye screeches, dropping the gun. She tries to run towards him, only to be stopped by Coulson grabbing her wrist. Skye tries to slip from his grasp, but Coulson's hold on her won't budge._

 _"Let me go! I need to help him! I need to save him!"_

" _Congratulation Skye, you did it," Coulson's voice is eerily emotionless and is accompanied by a stone-cold expression on his face. "You just took down SHIELD's most wanted criminal."_

" _No!" Skye screams, tears streaming down her face. "I didn't mean to do it! I was being controlled!"_

" _Skye, Ward is a traitor. He didn't just betray use once, but twice. We tried to give him a second chance, but he just went crawling back to Hydra. I know that you care about him, but clearly he's willing to throw that away for Hydra," Coulson states firmly, tightening his grasp on her._

" _No, no, no, no. I—I love him. He would never betray us again! We—we were happy!" The tears run down her face and drip off her chin in the dozens. This can't be real! Ward loves her, he told her that he would never hurt her again, he told her that he would never lie to her again!_

 _Coulson assures, "Skye, you're just doing your job. The world will be better without him in it."_

 _Skye looks back at Ward. The puddle of blood surrounding his body is contracting against the dark asphalt. Skye falls weak to her knees, unable to tear her gaze from the body of the man that she loves. "Grant..." Skye shuts her eyes tightly. "Grant!"_

 _..._

Skye's eyes shoot open and she pushes herself up from the bed in a cold sweat. Painting, she looks beside her to see Ward fast asleep. His chest rises up and down with each and every breath. Skye sighs in relief.

There is no bullet wound, no blood. _He's alright, everything's alright_.

Yet she has a hard time convincing herself that everything's alright. She runs her hands down the sides of her face as she tries to take deep breaths. _It was just a bad dream, it was just a bad dream_.

But what if it becomes a reality?

With shaky hands, she inches out of bed, trying not to wake her boyfriend.

Skye manages to silently creak out of their room at the Playground. The hallways are quiet, with only a few agents up during the dead of night. The drop of a pin would be able to echo through the base at this time of night.

She walks into the kitchen, filled with only the hum of the dishwasher and the shadows coming from the hallway. Her eyes adjust to the darkness as opens one of the cabinets to find a glass with she then fills with tap water. She closes her eyes as she takes a sip, swallowing the cool water hard.

She knows it was just a bad dream, her mind playing tricks on her. But everything about it was just so life-like about the dream; Coulson holding her wrist, the dark city streets, the look on Ward's face and the sound of a bullet ringing out, it was all too real, it all struck too close to home.

She clenches her glass, downing the rest of it as she hears the floorboards creaking behind her. Without looking behind her, she already knows who it is.

He's a freaking super spy, of course he'd notice if she left their bed.

"Skye, are you alright?" Ward's voice is tender and it helps to calm her nerves on the inside. To the rest of the world, Grant Ward is some cold government agent, but to her, he's caring and loving.

Skye swallows hard. "I just had a bad dream." She turns to face him. His figure is visible from the light of the hallway.

Ward takes another step towards her and wraps his arms around her from behind. "Are you coming back to bed?"

Skye shrugs. "I don't think I can sleep. Can you just hold me for a moment, please?" Ward nods without question. He leans his head down on her shoulder and rests his head in the nook of her neck. She melts into his embrace as he gently kisses her neck. She feels safe in his arms, like her nightmares can't hurt her anymore. If she could, she would love to stay like this forever.

"Do you want to talk about?" Ward asks after a moment of silence. His voice isn't pushy or demanding but she still feels likes he deserves to know.

Skye takes a deep breath. "I had a dream where you were Hydra again and Coulson wanted me to shoot you. You were screaming my name, begging me not to pull the trigger. But I felt like a puppet, I had no control over my actions and I did it, I pulled the trigger." She shuts her eyes tightly before continuing. "I—I tried to run towards you bleeding body but Coulson was holding me back. He was telling me that I completed my mission, that I was just a hero doing my job. I was watching you bleed out and I was helpless! I—I watched your eyes flicker closed, for good...Then—then I woke up." Her voice is shaky at the end and her throat feels like it's closing up.

"Hey, hey." Ward turns her in his arms so she faces him. She opens her eyes again to meet his chocolate brown ones. "It's alright. I would never go back to Hydra. I was there because I was lost, I didn't have a place. Now you are my home, you are what I have. I would never want to lose that, never again."

"But it felt so real!" Skye protest as she feels tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "I don't want to lose you! I don't want to pull the trigger."

It's hard for her to look away from his eyes, even with the water in her eyes. In her dream she lost those eyes once and she doesn't want it to happen again. She's practically lost in his gaze, drowning in the way he's looking at her; like she's everything to him.

Ward cups her cheeks and wipes a stray tear from under her eye. "It was just a dream. I'm here right now. Don't you see? I'm real." He kisses her forehead. Skye nods as Ward continues to pepper kisses over her face.

She closes her eyes, letting herself focus on all of those small yet loving point of contact. They're all over her face; her cheeks, her ears, her jaw, her neck. She could stay content with just of his kisses, but there is this deep needing settling in her bones, telling her that she wants more beyond little kisses _._

"Grant," his name slips though her lips as she arches her neck back. Grant's hands move to cradle the back of her head, and then pulls himself closer to kiss the newly accessible skin.

His kisses trail down from her cheek to the hem of her shirt. Ward pauses and looks to meets her gaze again, looking for a respond. Once she realizes that he stopped kissing her, look down at him. There is this look in his eyes, it's a little hidden by his usual mask but she sees it clearly; it's the look of longing, the look of _wanting_. Skye smirks as she cups his cheeks and crashes her lips against his.

Both of them know where this is going, it's written in the passion of their kiss. They've never done anything beyond some very hot make-out sessions before. They have only been together for less than a month and have been on two actual dates. Normally she'd stop and make sure that they're ready, she'd make sure that she's not making a mistake (she's learned from experience that act now, think later isn't a good option of her) but she doesn't want to stop. Instead she wants Ward to put his mouth to better uses than talking.

"Take me somewhere private," Skye manages to say against his lips. "Take me somewhere with sound proof walls."

Ward chuckles. He doesn't have to be asked twice. Ward breaks the kiss and takes her hand as they hurry back to their room. Neither of them care if there loud footsteps or heavy breathing wakes the whole base, they just want to get to their bed as quick as possible.

When they are back to their room, Skye almost forgets to lock the door when his lips are on hers again. Skye wraps her arms around Ward's neck and jumps up, so her ankles are lock behind his back. He carries her to bed, lying her down on the white sheets. Skye scoots up so she in the middle of the bed and Ward soon crawls over her.

He pulls his shirt off in a single, swift movement. Skye's mouth goes dry as he leans down so their foreheads are touching.

"This is real Skye," Ward assures as he stocks the side of her face, pushing a lock of hair away. "I will never leave you again."

Skye grins like the Cheshire cat. "Then prove it!" Skye grabs the back of his head and pulls him back down into a searing kiss.

...

They lie in tangled sheets with heavy breaths, staring up at the ceiling. There is a small smile that graces Skye's slightly swollen lips.

 _She just made love to Grant Ward_.

A few months ago, if someone was to tell her that she's going to have the most loving sex of her life with Ward, Skye would send them to see Simmons to check for a concussion.

Skye is half-expecting to find out that _this_ is the dream, that it's just another cruel trick that he mind is playing on her. But this time, she knows for _fact_ that this is real (at least ache between her thighs and the butterflies in her stomach are real).

She just stays there, basking in the afterglow as her heart rate begins to calm down. She lets out a content sigh, which is heard over the sounds of their heavy breaths.

"So that just happened." Ward runs a hand though his messy hair.

Skye responds with short breaths. "Yes, yes it did."

Ward smirks as he wraps her in his arms, pulling her closer. "So, are you convinced that I'm real now?"

Skye slaps her backhand against his bare chest. "Oh shut up." She rolls over to her side to face him. "And thank you, by the way."

Ward raises an eyebrow. "Thanks for what?"

"Well the amazing sex," Skye starts but is interrupted by a chuckle and a smug grin from Ward. Skye rolls her eyes over-dramatically. "I knew that would make you more prideful than usual. I should have never have said that."

"Hey, they're no harm in speaking the truth." Ward gives his a wink like the smug bastard that he is.

" _Anyways_ , I was saying thank you, for driving the nightmares away."

Ward holds her tighter in his arms so she's resting against his chest. "Anytime you need me, I'll be there." He places a kiss on the top of her head. "That bad dream is going to stay a bad dream, I swear. I will never go back to Hydra. Like I said; I was lost when I was in Hydra and now I have you, I have a family and your my home now. Skye, I love you."

Skye looks up at Ward, smiling at her. "I love you too." The words fall effortlessly out of her mouth.

"Do you think you can fall asleep now?"

Skye nods, "Yeah, I think so." Skye reaches down and moves the covers further onto their bodies. "Good night Grant."

"Good night Skye."

The sound of Ward's breaths mingling with hers lures her to sleep. Her eyes flicker close. And in Ward's arms, this times she dream of dark haired, rosie-cheeked babies.


	9. Cherry Bomb

...

 **Author's Note: This was another one that took me a while to figure out an AU for, but I'm thankful that this came full circle.**

 **This is partially inspired by the song** _ **Fight for Me**_ **for Heathers: The Musical and Heathers in general. There's a pretty good bootleg of it on YouTube that you should check out. It's pretty funny with a three-piece harmony of 'holy shit' over and over again and it's fabulous. So check it out and join me in the Heathers trash can.**

 **This definitely not the best one of this collection, but hey, at least I tried.**

 **Also, I am currently stuck on the next two installments of this, so don't expect a new one next week. But I have other stories coming down the pipeline and at least one will hopefully be done by next week.**

 **[Teenage AU (unlike the first one, they are really rebellious and not as innocent), Kind of a mix between Heathers: The Musical and Breakfast Club] [Romance/Friendship] [T]**

...

...

' _Hey street boy, what's your style?_

 _Your dead end dreams don't make you smile_

 _I'll give ya something to live for_

 _Have ya, grab ya 'til you're sore'_

 _~The Runaways_

…

' _September 1st, 2016,_

 _Dear Diary,_

 _It's the first day of senior year and it's still the Hell hole that I left last year. Everyone is like_ 'It's our last year at Westerberg. We have to make it a year to remember! _' but I doubt I want to remember my time here. I just want out, away from Westerberg, away from my foster parents. When I'm eighteen I'm hitting the road and I'll make it great by myself. Sure, living in a van won't be glamorous, but I'll find my way around, I always do._

 _The first two periods have been bearable, but then third period English rolled around and I'm being sent to detention on the first day! For any other student, Ms. Hand would probably let it slide, but I know, I_ know _that she is out to get me. I was, what, ten minutes late for her English class? But guess what? That hard-ass gave me a slip and told me that I'll be seeing her on Saturday. Bitch._

 _Great way to start off the year isn't it?_

 _Other than that nothing that eventful has happened, but I'll keep you updated._

 _~Skye'_

She clicks the back of her pen and tucks it away both her pen and her diary into her binder. Skye sighs, looking back at the mushy mess that they call a 'cafeteria lunch'. She opens the package of the cold gas station burrito when she hears a voice from behind her.

" _Heyyy_ Skye."

She doesn't bother to turn around. She knows who that voice belongs to and she doesn't want to see the person attached to it.

"What do you want Miles?" Skye hisses.

"Hey, am I not allowed to say 'hi' to my favourite girl?"

Skye rolls her eyes and turns to come face-to-face with the smug grin plastered on Miles' face. "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not getting back together with you."

He places a hand down on the table beside her and leans to that side. "Come on babe, I know you want to. We were so good together."

Miles reaches out to touch her. but Skye swats his hand away. "Well I thought that we weren't good together! At the end of the day it was all about you and that big ego of yours. You just wanted a hot girlfriend to put on a pedestal, to try to make others believe that you're hot shit. But I refuse to be your pet, never again. And don't you _dare_ call me 'babe'. Get over yourself."

Miles snorts, "Maybe I will." before turning on his heels and stomps away.

"Miles' giving you trouble again?" Bobbi, one of Skye's close (and one of Skye's only) friends sits beside her on the table bench.

"That asshole still thinks that I want to get back together," Skye replies as she watches Miles storm off in the rows of table. Most students steer clear of his path, until he bumps into some kid sitting alone at a table with a book in hand.

He looks up, giving Skye a better look at him. Skye's never seen him before, she's sure of it. She wouldn't forget those dark hair, brown eyes and cheekbones of she saw him before.

"Is there a problem?" Miles demands, but it doesn't take the other boy by surprise. He just narrows his gaze and stares right back at Miles. Skye knows where this is going, she's seen it dozens of times. She might as well call down to the nurse's office right now.

Miles growls and throws a punch at the other kid, but he dodges it and uses his hardcover book and slaps Miles across the face with it. It causes Miles to stumble back, he holds his cheek, covering up the newly formed red mark. Now, she can practically see Miles' blood boiling.

"Holy shit," Bobbi mutters under her breath.

"Holy shit indeed," Skye replies, eyes still glued on the fight that's breaking out.

Miles yells, "Why you!" which catches the attention of whole cafeteria. Miles tries to charge at the other guy, but all he gets is a fist square in the nose. There are murmurs in the crowd and a few morons began to chant ' _Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!'._

Then the new kid grabs Miles by the face and knocks Miles' forehead against his. He proceeds to throw Miles on the ground as the voices in the crowd erupt.

In the, what, thirteen somewhat years she's know Miles, Skye has never seen him getting his ass kicked.

"Ward!" The room is silenced as Ms. Hand comes storming towards him, her high heels clicking against the tile floor. "I know you just moved here, but the rules at this school are like the rules anywhere else. Congratulations, you earned yourself Saturday detention at seven a.m. sharp. Now, come with me."

Ward clenches his fist, like he's about to protest, but he sighs, "Yes ma'am."

Everyone's eyes are on Ward and Ms. Hand as they walk out of the cafeteria and towards the principal's office. Then the room burst back into conversation, like nothing had happened, like this was just another day in the life of a high school soap opera.

Skye leans over and whispers to Bobbi, "I guess this Ward guy is my date to detention now."

...

When Skye arrives on Saturday, Hand and Ward are already there, waiting in the library. Ms. Hand's eyes are stare Skye down until she takes a seat at the table next to Ward's.

"I'm glad that you both made it on time." Her voice is strict and clear. "For the next nine hours, I want you to write an essay for me, no less than a thousand words, explain who you think you are. I don't want you to move, don't want you to talk and I don't want you to sleep." She starts to hand out papers and pencils. "I'll be in my room across the hall and if I hear any funny business, I will tear up your paper and you won't be able to leave until you are finished. Understood?"

"Yes Ms," they both say out of unison.

"I'll bring lunch at twelve and if you're good, you'll get the good frozen cafeteria food." They watch as she leaves the room and listen to her shoes echo down the hallway.

Skye looks over at Ward, who is already working on his essay. She raises an eyebrow. For a guy who sucker punched Miles, Skye wouldn't think that he's a goody-goody that starts his homework early. But she'll admit that the mystery behind him intrigues her.

"You're seriously working on it already?

He looks at her with a narrow gaze. "She said that we have to get this done, so be quiet. I don't want trouble."

Skye snickers, leaning back in her chair. "Says the guy who kicked Miles' ass, I would think that you're as much trouble as I am." There's the small smile that grows on his lips as he looks down at the paper. "And how did you kick Miles' ass anyways? I've seen him give plenty of people bloody noses and black eyes, how did you manage to get out without a scratch?"

He pauses, calculating his response. "My older brother used to beat up me and my younger brother up a lot. I had to learn how to fight back."

She pauses for a moment, watching him stare at the paper. There's no way to really respond to that. When she talks to people about her childhood, she hates people feeling sorry for her, and there's something that makes her think that this guy feels the same way.

She decide to shift the conversation. "I'm Skye by the way."

"I'm Ward, Grant Ward."

Skye bits her lip, trying to figure out how to engage in a conversation with this guy. She wants to figure out what makes this guy tick and she _will_ find out how this guy ticks.

"Well, Ward, Grant Ward," Skye teases as she places her elbow on the table and props her chin on her palm. "I haven't seen you around. Did you just move here?"

Ward looks back up at her for a brief moment before his eyes flicker back down to his paper. "Yeah, I've moved around a lot."

"How come?" The room is so quiet that she can hear him take a sharp inhale.

"Why does it concern you?" He bites back.

Skye raises her hands up innocently. "I'm just curious. If we're going to be stuck here for nine hours, might as well get comfortable."

He looks up at her with a stoic look on his face and sighs. "I'll tell you this; I've been to ten high schools since freshmen year."

Ten schools huh? That's just about the number of foster homes she has had (and the number of foster homes is more than she cares to admit).

"And have you been a tall, dark and handsome outsider at all of them?" A smirk graces Skye's lips.

Grant snickers. "I guess. There's really no point planting root when you're gone in a hurry."

"So why do you move around do much? Expelled? Just keep on getting into fights?"

"Well, if you want to play detective, you'll have to figure out for yourself." Oh, so he wants to play games? She can play games.

"Than can you at least give me another lead?"

He thinks for a moment, before responding, "I live with my aunt now."

Skye's eyes narrow. So he moves around a lot, has two brothers, one that used to beat him up and lives with his aunt. She'll have to summon her inner Sherlock Holmes to figure out this one, but it beats writing an essay.

...

It's a good twenty minutes later of Skye pinning ideas together in a bulletin board in her head, but she finally has a coherent idea of Ward's back story.

She gasps loudly. "I got it!" Skye exclaims turning to Ward. "You're the son of former Massachusetts Senator Adam Ward and Anna Ward! Who, along with your older brother Christian Ward were arrested for child abuse of younger Grant, Thomas and Rose Ward."Ward's mouth is practically hanging open, Skye smirks in response. Victory is hers.

He is rendered near speechless. "How—how did you know? I only gave you three hints!"

"Easy, I was reading your body language and it seems that your parents are out of the picture. The pieces all came together." Skye pulled out her phone. "Plus I looked it up on Google."

Ward shakes his head, a slight look of amusement on his face. "Okay you got me."

"Now spill!" Skye takes a pause, regretting what she said. "I mean, if you want. I didn't want to be pushy."

Ward looks away from her gaze and shallows hard. "Well, I live with my aunt and younger brother now. You know about my family, they were abusive, mom was an alcoholic. When the public found out, they were taken away and my little brother, sister and I were sent to live with our aunt. She's forced to move around a lot for work, hence us moving a lot. And now my little brother is a freshman, my sister's in collage and I haven't had a contact with my parents or older brother in years. There are always four suit cases packed in the den, so it's only a matter of when."

Ward sighs and then turns to Skye. There's this look in his eyes, hidden behind his dark brown eyes, there is this broken look. They've just meet, but she feels all those emotions set into her bones. He didn't deserve that pain, no one child should.

"And you?" He asks, breaking the trace. "What did you do to get yourself thrown in detention?"

Skye mentally shakes herself. "Yeah, my story is a little messy like yours. For one Ms. Hand _hates_ me. I was five minutes late and now I'm here. And as for my back story, I'm an orphan. For a while I was bouncing from home to home, always being set back. My current foster parents are full of shit and don't understand who I am. I have no idea who my birth parents are. All I know is that they dropped me off at the orphanage the day I was born." Skye forces a weak smile. "I guess we're both kind of broken."

Ward returns her weak smile. "Yeah, I guess in a way we are. You're probably the first person I've met that doesn't have a picture perfect family. I'm always been jealous those picturesque families, I'll admit that. For the longest time, I though my family could change, and become that perfect family that you see on TV, but by the time I was eight, I know that my dream was meant to be shattered."

"I know how you feel. Wanting that good, normal childhood, but always getting the short end of the stick. We can start a club," Skye jokes. "We can call it 'The Messed up Childhood Club'. We can have pamphlets and matching t-shirts, maybe even pins."

Ward snickers. "But the club would have like two members. That wouldn't be enough to even make a cult." Oh, so he does have a sense of humour. Who knew?

There is this strained moment of silence, where they just look at each other, neither of them knowing how to continue to conversation. But before she could do anything, his eyes flicker back down to his paper and he redirects his focus to writing.

Skye presses her lips together, taking the pencil and twirling it in between her fingers. Who does she think she is, an outcast hacker chick that's attracted to the dark and mysterious type? Will Ms. Hand take that as an answer? But Skye might not be able to write a thousand words about what kind of guys she would rather make out with, of course, without much personal experience (but of course, that can change).

' _Who I think I am,'_ she begins to scribble, ' _I think that I am someone who needs a home, a real one. My whole life has been spent in places I don't belong, the orphanage, my foster homes, school. Not even my few friends understand everything about me. I'm someone who would benefit from a fresh start, but doesn't have the luxury.'_ She grunts. "This is stupid." She mutters to herself as she vigorously erases the few words she has.

Skye sighs, running her hands down the sides of her face. "What have you written?"

He shrugs. "Not much. I don't like talking about myself."

Well, that is kind of obvious, an hour ago, all he did was mutter a few words, but then something changed.

She thinks for a second. "But you opened up to me, why?"

Ward looks up at her and she swears that she can see a little bit of red growing on his cheeks. "I don't know. I just met you, but somehow I trusted you to understand. I don't know. The whole idea's stupid."

A small smile graces her lips. "Don't worry, I have the same feeling. Most people just say ' _I'm so sorry_ ' when I talk about my childhood. I don't want sympathy, all I want is someone who actually understands."

 _Want someone_ , that's so weird to think about. She doesn't know what it is, but she has this feeling about Ward. Maybe she feels a possible friendship, maybe its attraction. But the words "Will you go out with me sometime?" fall out of her mouth before she could give it a second thought.

It's sudden as she sees that it catches him by surprise. His lips are parted, trying to produce a response.

"I date, I mean." She adds for clarification. "I know it's sudden, but I might as well try and catch you before you move again."

A smile creeps onto his lips. "Um yeah, that-that sounds good."

He's cute when he stutters, isn't he?

...

The rest of detention goes by quickly. They talked more and Skye even managed to finish the essay. And to much of Skye's surprise, Ms. Hand was actually pleased with her work. Like they say; there's a first time for everything.

"Meet you after school next Tuesday?" Ward asks as they walk down the front steps of the school.

Skye nods. "Yeah, that sounds good." She turns to him at the bottom of the steps and smiles. "Usually I hate every minute of detention but I think it was worth it. Even though I could have been doing a million other things in that nine hours spent sitting in those crap chairs."

Ward returns her warm smile. "If you put it that way, I guess it was."

Suddenly, Skye rises to her toes and gives him a quick peck on the cheek. Dare she call it even a 'kiss', it more like a brush against his skin. "I'll see you around Ward."

"Umm, yeah." She could see a shade of red colour his cheeks. Mr. tall, dark and handsome blushing after a little kiss? That's cute. "I'll see you Monday."

Skye flashes another smile at him before turning on his heels, while thinking of the goofy look on his face.

...

' _September 5th, 2016,_

 _Dear Diary,_

 _Detention wasn't bad, probably the best detention I've had. There was this kid, Grant Ward, what kicked Miles' ass after Miles picked a fight with him. And now Grant and I have a date that's set for Monday. For the first time, I've met someone who understands what I've been through because he's had a shity childhood to. So I asked him out, plus he's pretty freaking hot. I hope he's a good kisser, he probably is, something is telling me that he is._

 _Plus, Ms. Hand was actually happy with my work. I know, it's weird, I had to pinch myself._

 _So that's pretty much it. I'll be back after our date. I have no idea where he'll take me, but at this point, I don't care. I just want to see him. Fuck, I sound like a stereotypical teenage girl, gross._

 _~Skye'_

...

 **Another Author's Note: So, what did you think? The more I reread this, the more I just was to be done with it. This was not my favourite.**

 **So I saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 last weekend and I thought that it was really good! It was funny and the plot was on point. But I didn't really expect it 'cause I thought they were going to follow the story line closer to the comics, but I still enjoyed it very much.**


	10. Escape (The Pina Colada Song)

...

 **Author's Note: I considered following the plot of the song, but I don't imagine Skye and Ward's relationship getting boring, so this is my take on it.**

 **Also this was surprisingly hard to write. I just got stuck on it for a good month and decided to work on other thing while this was on hold, and I'm glad to finally finish it (sorry for the long hiatus) And you know what? I was listening to L's Theme from Death Note on loop while I was finishing this up (and I sat like him for a while). I think it actually helped me write.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **[Office Co-Workers AU] [Humour/Romance] [T]**

...

...

' _If you like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain_

 _If you're not into yoga, if you have half a brain_

 _If you like making love at midnight in the dunes on the cape_

 _Then I'm the love that you've looked for, write to me and escape_ '

 _~Rupert Holmes_

...

"Good morning Trip," Skye greets as she approaches the front desk of SHIELD Technologies.

Antoine Triplett looks up from his desktop computer, shining his bright-as-always smile her way. "'Morning girl," he responds. "How was your weekend?"

She shrugs. "Fine I guess. I just finished up a few reports, watched some Netflix, the norm. What about you?" Skye slips her ID card out of her pocket and hands it to him.

While he runs the card through a scanner, Triplett says, "I met Raina's parents for the first time. We when to a nice restaurant and had a great conversation and meal. I think that they might actually like me. But then of course, who doesn't?" Then Trip hands the card back to her.

"Heads up, the elevator is being renovated, so you'll have to take the stairs."

"What?" Skye exclaims, "My desk is on the sixth floor, are they doing all the elevators now?"

He nods. "Yeah, I guess it was cheaper for them to hire a team to do it all at once. I know it sucks."

Skye groans before Trips says, "Have a great day Skye." with a smile, in attempts to brighten her dreary mood.

"You too." Skye flashes a small smile back at him. "And say 'Hi' to Raina for me."

"You know I will." She catches him wink at her before she turns her head and walks towards the stairwell.

...

After a quick pit stop to the kitchen for a coffee, Skye walks into one of the meeting rooms where she sees Bobbi, one of the members of her current team, typing away at an assignment.

"Hey Bobbi," Skye says, getting the other woman's attention.

The blond glances up from the screen and smiles. "Hey yourself. Anything interesting happened to you over the weekend?" She leans over to prop her chin on the heel of her hand.

"Nothing much. Trip actually asked me the same thing. Do you guys just assume I went on an adventure of a lifetime, and that I was whisked away to a magical world in the span of two days?" Skye asks as she slips her messenger bag off her shoulders and places it flat on the table in front of her.

Bobbi twirls a pen between her fingers. "I was just wondering if you went out or met anyone," Bobbi attempts to say as casually as possible.

Skye sighs. "Stop trying to be subtle, it's really painful to watch." Skye takes her laptop out of the bag and boots it up. "And no, I didn't go out, I didn't meet a guy."

"Honey, you're turning thirty in a year. If you want kids, you better get on it. You don't want to be running around with toddlers when you're forty-eight."

"Bobbi, it's not like I'm _not_ trying to find someone to settle down with, it's just that I haven't found 'the one' yet. You should know better than anyone that things like this can't be force." Skye pulls out a chair and sits across from Bobbi.

She takes a sip of her steaming coffee before asking, "Speaking of which, did you and Hunter paint the town red this weekend?"

Bobbi snickers to herself. "Well actually, it was his birthday on Friday, and we went out for dancing and drinks. Long story short, my phone got destroyed to the point of no return, so I got a new one," she announces as she hold up her shiny new smartphone which bares not a single smudge. "I decided that this was my opportunity to change service providers, so that was nice. I also got a new number so pass over your phone."

Skye slips hers out of her pocket and slides it across the table over to her.

Bobbi unlocks Skye's phone and adds her new number to Skye's contacts with a few clicks of the screen.

"There," Bobbi slides the phone back to its owner.

Skye stops the momentum with her hand just as it's about to fall off the table. "Thanks." She flashes a quick smile before pocketing the device.

They both hear footsteps approaching and turn to see Leo Fitz of the research department sticking his head into the room. "Sorry to interrupt ladies, but Skye, another of marketing's computers has to be fixed."

She sighs dramatically while pinching the bridge of her nose. "Let me guess, Ward again."

Fitz nods in return.

 _Great, just great._

Sure, Ward is kind of cute, definitely the tall, dark and handsome type, but he wouldn't be able to program a freaking Tumblr page if his life depended on it. He's only two years older than her, but she swears that he goes to bed at six, reads the newspaper and does tai-chi in the park on Sunday mornings. The man has a soul of an eighty year old.

"This is the fourth time this month," Skye mutters to herself. She gets out of the chair and closes the lid of her laptop, grabbing her coffee on the way. "And it's only the 12th. Why would you hire people in marketing that can't use a damn computer?" She walks past Fitz, taking a long slip of the lukewarm coffee.

...

She walks past a row of gray cubicle and pops her head into the one at the end of the line. "Did you try turning it off and on again?"

Grant Ward turns around in his spinning office chair. "Ha ha Skye. I get it, I know I'm not the 'Computer Whisperer', but I didn't just accidentally turn it off again. The computer screen when blue while I was working on a report. And yes, I tried turning it off and on again."

"Well then," she says as she enters his work space. "Let's see what's going on."

She places her coffee beside the keyboard and laces her fingers together, then stretches her palms outwards with a satisfying crack. Ward moves aside and lets Skye take the reins. Her fingers fly across the keyboard while she keeps her eyes locked with the solid blue screen in front of her.

It only a few ticks of the clock later until she was able to get onto Ward's generic Windows home screen.

"I think that you accidently downloaded a virus and it was able to shut down the firewall," Skye says as she steps out of the way. "It was a easy fix."

Ward rolls his chair back in front of the desk. "Thanks Skye."

"Anytime Ward." She gives a mock salute before walking into of the cubicle. Honestly though, Ward is cute, but _hopeless_ with tech. Even her parents know better than to click on shady websites. She sees him becoming one of those grandparents that have to clue about the latest technology. Old Grant Ward is sort of funny to think about.

...

When Skye gets back home she's just about ready to crash. Victoria Hand is a great supervisor and all, but man, is she ever hard on her. She spent her day running up a down the stairs _in heels_ , just because they decided to renovate the elevators today. Why today?

Skye flops face-first on the couch once it is in arm's reach (for it was the furthest her legs could take her). With her heavy breaths, she tries to move but her bones are practically putty. But after a solid five minutes of lying completely still, Skye gets board.

She reaches for her phone in her back and looks on her messages to see who she can harass. Skye is quick to find her first target.

Skye: _hey bobbi its skye_

She tosses her phone beside her on the couch and reaches to grab the TV remote on the coffee table. Skye is just able to turn of the cable box before she hears a ding. The words ' _This is not Bobbi.'_ appear on the lock screen.

She bites down on her lip. "Dammit," Skye mutters to herself, fingers flying across the touch screen keyboard.

Skye: _haha, my bad_

She receives a reply instantly.

Unknown: **No problem. I'm horrible with technology, I text the wrong person all the time.**

Skye: _well im great with tech so this is a first time thing_

Unknown: **Oh, so I'm your first anonymous text friend?**

Skye: _i wouldnt exactly call u a friend_

Unknown: **Well, all friends start somewhere. Also, you text like a teenager, just turn on auto-correct.**

Skye: _Im 29 thank you very much. a 29 year old with the heart of a teenager. i wil text the way i want to. and u text like a grandma_

Unknown: **I'll take that as a complement, my Gramsy was the best woman I knew. And I believe thirty-one is too young to be a grandfather.**

Skye chuckles.

Skye: _so youre a grandma's boy huh?_

Unknown: **I guess you could say that.**

...

Their conversations go on and on, jumping from topic to topic. The next time Skye checks the clock, it's already 7:29. This guy seems really interesting, and she's tempted to talk to him all night, but that wouldn't be the 'adult' thing to do.

Skye: _can u tell me yr name so i can put u in my contacts_

Unknown: **I don't want a stacker thank you very much.**

Skye rolls her eyes.

Skye: _u know my name its only fair if i known urs_

Unknown: **Well it's not my fault that you told me your name!**

Skye: _i thought that u were Bobbi! anyways im calling you Jeff._

She taps over to her contact list and added _Jeff_ to the list. She clicks back before sending a new message.

Skye: _well Jeff, i have to finish up a few things for work and eat. ill talk to u later_

Jeff: **Goodnight Skye**

Skye: _goodnight jeff_

Skye shuts off her phone and pushes herself off the couch. As she walks over to the small kitchen in her apartment. She's praying to the Refrigerator God that there is some leftover take-out or something.

...

"Bobbi!" Skye pushes open the door to that same meeting room that Skye found her in yesterday. "You gave me the wrong number!"

She peeks her head up from her papers. "What?"

Skye sighs loudly. "Yesterday, when you gave me your new phone number, you gave me the wrong one apparently!"

"No, no, no, I'm sure that I got it right."

Skye places her phone flat on the table and slides it over to Bobbi. "Nope, instead I was having a lovely chat with a total stranger," Skye explains as she walks over to her friend's side.

"Huh, I got the last number wrong." Bobbi types in a few numbers in a new contact slot. "My bad."

"Well thanks a lot for that. I was planning on harassing you all night, but I was harassing a stranger instead."

Bobbi is quick to ask, "Wait, did you not realize that it wasn't me?"

"No, he told me that it wasn't you, but he carried on the conversation and I was messaging back and forth with him in for a solid two hours."

"Looks like you got yourself an internet boyfriend," Bobbi says a she gives back Skye's phone. "Too bad he isn't real."

"He's not a robot or anything Bobbi, it's a real person."

"Yeah, but you don't know if they are making this stuff up. They could be a twelve-year-old girl or an eighty-year-old man and you wouldn't even know it."

Skye shrugs. "I guess you're right." And Bobbi could very much be right, but Skye would like to believe otherwise.

Jeff, or whoever Jeff really is, seems like a nice guy. Sure, maybe he sent her a few too many screenshots of dogs and health tips, but it's not like she minds (but she does take the health tips as an insult that she is unfit, she has been maintaining her figure well thank you very much!).

...

Skye messages him once she gets back to her desk.

Skye: _how is ur day so far?_

Jeff: **It would be better if your used proper grammar.**

She rolls her eyes as she texts back,

Skye: _o_ _f course, grammar again._

Skye: _well my day has been pretty good thank you very much. they finally fixed the elevator in my building so i don't have to run up and down the stairs in heel_

Jeff: **I always take the stairs. I sit at a desk all day so I have to get some form of exercise.**

She raises an eyebrow.

Skye: _office job? i pegged u as more of a police officer or a personal trainer_

Jeff: **Well, if my parents had it their way, I'd be a doctor, lawyer or a politician, but that would have been a disaster. I'm not a people person. My brother was joking that I should become pathologist, because the patients are dead, so they don't talk complain or talk back to you.**

Skye: _now u are kind of sounding like a serial killer_

Jeff: **Maybe I text people long enough to find where they are and kill them...**

Skye: _but u suck at technology_

Jeff: **It could always be an act...**

Skye: _oh shut up. i shouldnt even be texting u at work. my supervisor is hardcore_

Jeff: **Wow Skye, such a bad girl.**

Skye: _shut up_

...

Jeff: **I didn't have time to check the news this morning. Did Trump do something stupid today?**

Skye: _dont get me started..._

...

Jeff: **Good morning Skye.**

Jeff: **Rise and shine Sleeping Beauty.**

Jeff: **Unless you're in a different time zone, then sorry.**

Jeff: **Still, you should be up by now.**

Skye: _fuck off jeff_

Jeff: **I see someone's a little cranky in the morning.**

Skye: _FUCK. OFF. I'M TRYING TO GET SOME DAMN SLEEP!_

Jeff: **So, a morning wakeup call seems to get you to use somewhat proper grammar.**

Skye: _SHUT THE FUCK UP!_

Jeff: **:)**

Skye: _FFFUUUUCCKKKKKK YYYOOOOOUUUU!_

Jeff: **Ha, you wish ;)**

...

Skye: _Are we gonna have a problem?_

Jeff: **Umm, sorry, what?**

Skye: _You_ _got a bone to pick?_

Jeff: **Um. No.**

Skye: _You've come so far, why now are you pulling on my dick?_

Jeff: **Are you drunk Skye? But wait, you're grammar is finally good! Are you finally sober?**

Skye: _I'd normally slap your face off, and everyone here could watch._

Jeff: **Where's 'here'?**

Skye: _But I'm feeling nice. Here's some advice. Listen up, biotch!_

Jeff: **Is this a song or a poem or something?**

Skye: _yeah it is! its from a musical look it up. its been stuck in my head allday_

Jeff: **Now back to the bad grammar. It was fun while it lasted.**

...

Skye: _do u have anyother mystery text friends?_

Jeff: **I've texted plenty of strangers before, but the conversation doesn't last for very long.**

Skye: _awwww, so im ur only long turn text friend thats cute_

...

Skye: _what with u and grammar anyways?_

Jeff: **It's just good practice, is easier to understand and looks a lot nicer.**

Skye: _but isnt short form easier_

Jeff: **Yes, but sometimes I find it harder to understand.**

Skye: _does proper grammar turn u on?_

Jeff **: What? No!**

Skye: _i bet it does_

Skye: _Do you find this sexy?_

Jeff: **Skye...**

Skye: _Look at those sexy upper case letters, and that proper punctuation. And then those smooth, soft curves of those 'C's and 'S's. Mummmmm._

Jeff: **I'm mentally disturbed. I'm turning off my phone now.**

Skye: _Bye, handsome. ;)_

...

Jeff: **When you were talking about Bobbi when you first messaged me, by any chance were to talking about Bobbi Morse?**

Skye: _yeahhhh, how did u know_

Jeff: **Will, I work with both a Skye and a Bobbi.**

Skye: _who r u then?_

Jeff: **Well, the Skye I know loves challenges. So here's a challenge. If you can't figure out who I am in the next 24 hours, you'll go in a date with me. Sound fair?**

Skye: _a_ _date? really? u r realy starting to sounding like a stalker_

Jeff: **So is that a 'yes'?**

Skye: _fine, but its on now_

...

Already she had a plan and a solid hunch. She know several things about Jeff; he's bad with technology, know both her and Bobbi and it somewhat anti-social. All the evidence points to one person, it's kind of obvious, but it would be embarrassing if she got it wrong.

Once she arrives to work the next day, she talk to Trip for a few brief minutes, she takes the elevator up to the fourth floor, and enters 'cubicle city' as she likes to call it. Row up upon row of gray cubicle that are always seen in movies and TV shows.

Skye walks through the row of cubicles as she dials Jeff's number. The room is then filled with two distinct sounds; the sound of typing and a genetic Apple ringtone. She has him right in her grasp now. She runs towards the noise as she turns down the row of cubicles, turning left and right.

As she turns down the rows, it starts to feel familiar.

And there it is, the cubicle with the plastic plate 'Grant Ward' on the exterior walls. And just as the ring stops, it goes to voicemail.

' _You've reached Grant Ward. Leave your name and a brief message at the tone, and I'll return your call as soon as possible. Have a good day.'_ Wow, even his voicemail is even proper and a tad generic.

Skye puts the phone up to her ear and says, "Hi Ward, it's Skye. I've found you," before hanging up and stepping into his cubicle.

"Ha, I know it!" Skye exclaimed. "Is not good with technology, speaks like a grandpa, all the evidence leads to Grant Ward."

A slight grin appears in his lips. "Well, I should have known that you'd figure out that it was me in less than twenty-four hours. Shame, I was about to make reservation to one of the nicest restaurants in town."

When she feels her cheeks grow warmer, it only make her step closer to him.

"Well I'd like to take you up on that offer anyways." It's a bold move, since they've only texted and haven't talked much besides that, but she has a good feeling about this.

"After texting you for a week, I have started to really get to know you, but I still want to know more about you." Skye smiles warmly. "Ward, will you go on a date with me?"

He snickers, "I thought you'd never ask. And I guess I'm still paying, right?"

Skye crooks her head to the side and flashes a coy smile. "You guessed right. I have to head out for the day soon, for offsite work, but I will see you tomorrow, okay?"

Ward nods in response. "Once I book reservations for the restaurant, I'll text you the details."

"Bye Ward," Skye says as she perks up to her toes and kisses him gently on the cheek, her chin grazing the stubble on his jawline.

When she looks back at him, Skye chuckles. He's cute when he's dazed.

It takes him a split second, but he blinks before responding, "Bye Skye."

As Skye walks back down the rows of the cubicle, she edits the place in her contacts from 'Jeff' to 'Grant Ward' and laughs softly to herself.

...

 **Another Author's Note: I never thought that I would write about a grammar kink. I'm sorry if you're as mentally disturbed as I am.**

 **Also I was going to throw in another Hamilton song, but I thought that Heathers the Musical needed some love. Listen to 'I am Damaged' and think about Skyeward... That will be fun.**

 **Also I'm now on Tumblr, you can find me at trinitea-fics . tumblr . com! I was going to just go by TriniTea, but there are already other Trinitea and I feel even less original now.**

...


End file.
